Police arrested three Arizona parents as they tried to force their way into a school that police locked down after a gunman was seen trying to enter the campus, authorities said.
The incident at Thompson Ranch Elementary School came about three months after hundreds of police officers in Uvalde, Texas, waited 77 minutes before even trying to open the doors to classrooms where a shooter killed 19 children
The parents were arrested Friday as they tried to remove their children from school to protect them, authorities said.
Police in El Mirage, a Phoenix suburb, used a Taser to subdue two of them as they tried to help a man who had a gun that fell to the ground while being detained, authorities said.
No shots were fired at Thompson Ranch, the school was not breached and no one was injured, other than a woman who was taken to a hospital for treatment of Taser wounds inflicted by officers.
By the time the confrontations with upset parents began, police had already confirmed there was no longer a threat, removed a suspicious package and planned to begin reuniting the parents with the children, said El Mirage Police Lt. Jimmy Chavez
Police locked down the school after an armed man was seen trying to enter the campus. Google Maps
Even so, the school was still on lockdown, meaning no one was allowed on campus, per police and school district protocols.
That prompted angry parents to demand they be allowed inside the school so they could find their children and begin confronting police, authorities said.
Chavez sympathized with the parents, but stood by the way the police handled the situation.
“Several parents continued their agitation, made several statements that they would come to campus to help protect their children,” he said. “As a parent I understand this philosophy. However, there are procedures that law enforcement and the school were following.”
Chavez said one man began to push past the officers, and while police were arresting him, a man and woman who had also confronted the officers came to his aid. Officers used a Taser to subdue them and they were also arrested. As the first man was being held, a gun fell to the ground.
The armed parent will be slapped with a weapons charge because guns are not allowed on school property, along with one for disorderly conduct. The two parents who were Tasered will face unspecified charges. The woman was taken by ambulance to a hospital, Chavez said.
The Mirage, in Maricopa County, is home to about 35,800, located approximately 15 miles from downtown Phoenix. Thompson Ranch Elementary is a K-8 school, which began the new school year on Aug. 3, according to its website.
By the time the clashes with the upset parents began, the police had already confirmed that there was no longer any threat. FOX 10 Phoenix
The incident began around 10:30 a.m. Friday, when school officials called police to report that a man, possibly armed with a gun, was trying to enter a locked school building. He was unable to get in and was removed by staff before El Mirage police and two other agencies arrived at the school, Chavez said.
Officers canvassing the school to discern whether there was a security threat discovered a suspicious package, prompting them to call a bomb squad and move the children to different parts of the campus, Chavez said.
Subsequently, the parents began to come forward and confrontations with the officers began.
Chavez explained, “Parents need to understand that when the school is on lockdown and law enforcement is on the scene, no one will be able to enter the campus.”
Chavez said the school’s lockdown procedures between the school district and law enforcement “worked perfectly.”
Later, the police located the man who had triggered the lockdown. He was being evaluated Friday afternoon by mental health professionals, and a police statement said charges were pending.
With post cables