Gun Too Close; School Locked Down

Sat., March 25, 2000

By Trinity Hartman trinityh@spokesman.com

Skyview Elementary School went into an emergency lockdown Wednesday after school officials saw teens playing with a gun in a yard near the school.

Students were brought in from recess and the doors to the school were locked for two hours Wednesday afternoon while sheriff’s deputies investigated the incident.

Deputies interviewed three teens who admitted to having a BB gun in the back yard of a home bordering the school playground.

No arrests were made because the teens were not shooting the gun at people or on school grounds, said Sheriff’s Office spokesman Cpl. David Reagan.

The decision was made to bring students inside because of the proximity of the gun to the school playground, said East Valley Superintendent Les Portner.

“We didn’t make too big a deal out of it, but you’ve always got to be cautious,” he said.

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