Teen Arrested for False Report of Gun

Escondido High School was locked down for more than an hour

A teenager was arrested after a fake report prompted a lockdown at Escondido High School on Thursday morning, according to police.

The initial report was from a passerby who said they saw an individual wearing a trench coat and carrying a weapon near the baseball field around 10 a.m. Police later investigated the incident and discovered a 17-year-old boy was responsible for the call and suspect he made a false report.

Police arrested the teenager shortly after 4 p.m. at his home without incident.

Students inside the building texted parents and friends saying that they were on lockdown inside their classrooms and were been told to hide under their desks. The school was on lockdown for more than an hour.

Officials searched the campus and rifle-toting law enforcement officers were searching cars one by one in the parking lot. K-9 units and an All Patrol Response vehicle was also at the scene, said Escondido PD Capt. Michael Loarie.

After searching the entire campus, police did not find anyone. Officials then lifted the lockdown.

Parents of students were seen lined up on the sidewalk outside the high school during the lockdown.

Principal Rich Watkins emailed parents, in part saying: "Our students and staff responded with incredible efficiency and the EPD arrived quickly to assess the situation."

Escondido Union High School District was among the 14 school districts across the county that responded to our survey: No safety drill reports are kept.

This means we have no way of knowing when the last time Escondido High practiced a lockdown.

A reminder, there is no law that says they have to document when they do a drill. But the Ed Code does say they have to practice twice a year as a high school. We just currently have no documentation to verify that they did the practice or when.

This info is available in NBC 7 Investigates Safety Drill Reports database.
 


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