Both St. Anthony’s School and Manteca Adult School were briefly locked down on Thursday afternoon after reports came in to Manteca Police that a man carrying a rifle and a handgun was seen in a front yard not far from both campuses.
According to Manteca Police Sergeant Greg Beall, an officer was flagged down near the area of Sutter and Grant streets at 2:50 p.m. on Thursday and told of the situation. As the officer was calling in the incident, Manteca Police dispatch was on the line with a passerby who had observed the same man – prompting multiple units to respond to the scene.
According to Beall, the decision to lock down of the private Catholic school and the Manteca Unified campus was made out of an abundance of caution, and as soon as officers confronted the man – in a yard at the 400 block of Sutter Street – he followed all commands and offered no resistance whatsoever and was detained without incident.
The man was found to be carrying an unloaded AR-15-style rifle that strung across his chest and had a loaded 9mm semiautomatic handgun on his waist. Officers removed the weapons and took custody of them after the decision was made to hold the 23-year-old man at a local facility for at least 72 hours for a psychiatric evaluation.
The schools were locked down just before 3 p.m. on Thursday, and the lockdown lasted less than 10 minutes before it was lifted. The man was taken to an area hospital where he will be mentally evaluated.
“We would like to thank all of the concerned citizens who immediately flagged down our officer as well as those who quickly called 911 to report this incident,” the Manteca Police posted on its website page. “We also commend the fast action of both schools for initiating their lockdown procedures to protect their staff and students.
“Finally we would like to recognize all of our officers who quickly responded to the location without hesitation, made a quick determination of the proper course of action to take, and who were able to resolve this volatile incident without the need for any use of force, or injury to anyone involved.”
To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.
