BOSTON -- A man was shot and killed in Dorchester near an elementary school being used as a polling place on Tuesday afternoon.

The shooting happened at the corner of Westville Street and Geneva Avenue just before noon near the John Marshall Elementary School, where voters went to cast their ballots.

The school was put into what police call "safe mode." Some voters were not happy finding the door locked, but they were allowed in the building.

Nervous parents arrived at the school to pick up their children.

"There are all kinds of detectives in that school right now, and I don't know. I just want my sons out of that school. I don't know what went on. I don't care. I want my children out of there," one parent said.

No students were injured. Police are searching for the assailant.

"We had officers respond directly to the school, so that there was no danger to the students or the faculty at the school, and we secured the scene in a manner that the polling station was not impeded," Boston Police Department Deputy Superintendent Robert Merner said.

NewsCenter 5 and TheBostonChannel.com will have more information when it becomes available.