Suspected gunman that led to Mt. San Jacinto College lockdown arrested at LAX

 In blog, Crime News: Los Angeles Daily News

Suspected gunman that led to Mt. San Jacinto College lockdown arrested at LAX

by Richard K. De Atley, Beau Yarbrough

A 25-year-old man, who authorities said pointed a handgun at students in the cafeteria at Mt. San Jacinto College on Wednesday, Nov. 6, was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport where he was attempting to flee the country, authorities said.

Greg Abejon, 25, was taken into custody at the airport after he checked in, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said in an afternoon tweet.

No additional information, including how Abejon was tracked to the airport, was immediately available.

Students and staff at Mt. San Jacinto College sheltered in place for five hours with the campus on lockdown after the man, whom deputies described as a student, pointed a gun at other students, and then walked out, authorities said.

Deputy Robyn Flores, a spokeswoman for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, said during a news conference, “he approached a table and pointed the firearm at the students.”

“There is no evidence of a shooting, there are no reported injuries,” Flores said.

The weapon was identified as a handgun but authorities don’t know if it was a firearm or perhaps a pellet gun, Flores said.

  • San Jacinto College students are released from a building following a lockdown of the campus in San Jacinto on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2019. The college was locked down at approximately 9:30 a.m. after a man was seen in the school’s cafeteria with a gun. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

  • Riverside County sheriff’s deputies search Mt. San Jacinto College in San Jacinto on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2019. The college was locked down at approximately 9:30 a.m. after a man was seen in the school’s cafeteria with a gun. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

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  • A San Jacinto police officer blocks the entrance to Mt. San Jacinto College in San Jacinto on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2019 during a lockdown of the campus. At approximately 9:30 a.m. a man was seen in the school’s cafeteria with a gun. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

  • A sheriff’s deputy moves students and staff from the Mt. San Jacinto College Wellness Center to the gymnasium during a lockdown of the campus in San Jacinto on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2019. At approximately 9:30 a.m. a man was seen in the school’s cafeteria with a gun. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

  • A sheriff’s deputy prepares to move students and staff from the Mt. San Jacinto College Wellness Center to the gymnasium during a lockdown of the campus in San Jacinto on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2019. At approximately 9:30 a.m. a man was seen in the school’s cafeteria with a gun. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

  • A sheriff’s deputy moves students and staff from the Mt. San Jacinto College Wellness Center to the gymnasium during a lockdown of the campus in San Jacinto on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2019. At approximately 9:30 a.m. a man was seen in the school’s cafeteria with a gun. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

  • A Riverside County sheriff’s deputy searches Mt. San Jacinto College in San Jacinto on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2019. The college was locked down at approximately 9:30 a.m. after a man was seen in the school’s cafeteria with a gun. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

  • Riverside County sheriff’s deputies search Mt. San Jacinto College in San Jacinto on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2019. The college was locked down at approximately 9:30 a.m. after a man was seen in the school’s cafeteria with a gun. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

  • A sheriff deputy prepares to move students and staff from the Mt. San Jacinto College Wellness Center to the gymnasium during a lockdown of the campus in San Jacinto on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2019. At approximately 9:30 a.m. a man was seen in the school’s cafeteria with a gun. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

  • Law enforcement blocks the entrance to San Jacinto College in San Jacinto on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2019 during a lockdown of the campus. At approximately 9:30 a.m. a man was seen in the schools cafeteria with a gun. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

  • A sheriff’s deputy moves students and staff from the Mt. San Jacinto College Wellness Center to the gymnasium during a lockdown of the campus in San Jacinto on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2019. At approximately 9:30 a.m. a man was seen in the school’s cafeteria with a gun. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

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The sheriff’s SWAT team swept the campus during a building-to-building search, and several police dog teams and a hazardous-device team responded to the campus.

The incident was reported around 9:30 a.m. at the college, at 1499 N. State St. in San Jacinto, school spokeswoman Karin Marriott said. About 1:20 p.m., students, staff and faculty were allowed to leave. Shortly afterward, the school’s parking lots were emptied.

Classes were canceled for the day not only at the San Jacinto main campus, but also at its branch campuses, “out of an abundance of caution,” the school said in an email. Classes will resume Thursday, MSJC notified all students later in the afternoon.

Student Tyrese McEwen of San Jacinto said he and about a dozen other students were locked down in his English class on the main campus.

  • Police have shut off access to the Mt. San Jacinto College campus after a man reportedly brought a gun into the school cafeteria, pointed it, and then left without shooting on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2019. (Photo by Beau Yarbrough, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

  • Emergency personnel gather outside Mt. San Jacinto College, where police have shut off access to the campus after a man reportedly brought a gun into the school cafeteria, pointed it, and then left without shooting on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2019. (Photo by Beau Yarbrough, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

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“They told me we needed to hurry up and start sheltering ourselves into a corner, and that we were going to have a lockdown,” McEwen said.

“We didn’t know anything for about three hours, and then we found out information that it was somebody with a gun on campus … it was definitely a heart-dropping moment,” McEwen said.

Humphrey Gachanja said he had no idea that the school was locked down. He was on State Street, headed to an anatomy class.

“I’m supposed to have class,” he said. “I just came and had to turn around.”

Several San Jacinto Unified School District campuses near the college were put on lock down or a lighter security status for most of Wednesday’s school day.

That included Clayton A. Record Elementary School, which is across from the college on State Street. The district issued an “all clear” for the affected schools just before 1:30 p.m.

Michelle Caley, the mother of two kids, one at Clayton Record, said as she waited earlier in the day that she had four friends call or text, all at once about the gun incident, “and then 30 minutes later, the school district called me. … My girl is in kindergarten,” she said. “This is traumatizing.”

All credit goes to Richard K. De Atley, Beau Yarbrough
Originally published on https://www.dailynews.com

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