Suspected gunman that led to Mt. San Jacinto College lockdown arrested at LAX
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.
#SanJacinto
The suspect in today’s MSJC incident has been taken into custody at LAX. Suspect, 25-year-old Greg Abejon, was arrested after checking-in at the airport in an attempt to flee the country. No additional info at this time. Press Release pending. https://t.co/3h12a1GArS pic.twitter.com/8kL5dOmaBU— Riverside County Sheriff's Dept (@RSO) November 6, 2019
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.
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.
“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