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Suspected man with gun near school was boy with paintball gun

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By the Lincoln Journal star

Wednesday, Oct 08, 2008 - 10:31:07 am CDT

Police found the person who was carrying a gun near Goodrich Middle School on Monday, causing a lockdown of the building at the end of the school day.

Officials kept students inside the building for about 15 minutes after the final bell Monday while police looked for a man reportedly carrying a gun near the school.

Lincoln Police Officer Katie Flood said a citizen called police at 2:50 p.m. to report seeing a man near the south side of the school holding what appeared to be a long gun wrapped in a blanket.

Story Photo
Goodrich Middle School

Goodrich Principal Mike Henninger announced a “code red,” or emergency situation, and students returned to their classrooms, teachers locked the doors to their rooms, and they waited.

Police found no one, and students were allowed to leave about 3:15 p.m.

Officers canvassed the neighborhood and learned a 15-year-old boy had been walking from his girlfriend’s house to a friend’s house, carrying a paintball gun, Flood said.

On Tuesday the boy told police he had covered the paintball gun with a T-shirt because he knew he would be walking by a school, Flood said. He was not cited.


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Me wrote on October 8, 2008 11:50 am:
" A couple of things... first, I'm glad to hear how Goodrich reacted. If it had been some crazy person out there with a gun, who knows what would have happened if the kids were let out. Thankfully it wasn't anything serious... and the kids were just delayed a few minutes.
Second... what was the 15 year old doing? Shoudn't he had been in school? It was a dumb move on his part... covering the gun up? Granted, yes, it's a paintball gun, but when you try to hide it that makes it look more suspicious.
Kudos to Goodrich! thanks for keeping our kids safe! "

 Ray Keith wrote on October 8, 2008 1:02 pm:
" a visible gun should always cause panic, given its inherent evil and all.... "

 wrote on October 8, 2008 1:10 pm:
" you would be complaining if he left it out in plain view too. "

 This is a complete over reaction wrote on October 8, 2008 1:41 pm:
" This was a complete over reaction...The State of Nebraska allows us to carry a loded gun on public property. Not everyone that carries a gun is going to shoot someone. In fact the chances that a kid is going to be shot by a person with a gun close to a school is SO MUCH LESS then getting hit and killed by a car! Maybe we should lock down the schools everytime a car drices by a school!!!!! You are raising you kids to live in fear!!! "

 Problem with system wrote on October 8, 2008 1:54 pm:
" Some High schools let out children at 2:30....The problem is that we have forced children to grow-up sooner due to putting them into an environment with older children. Sending 6th graders to Jr. High and 9th graders to high school. This kid would have probably been in class if the rules hadn't changed. "

 Parent wrote on October 8, 2008 2:59 pm:
" High Schoolers get out at 2pm on Tuesdays so that could be why he was not in school at that time. "

 Thanks to the caller wrote on October 8, 2008 3:48 pm:
" My daughter goes to Goodrich, and between this incident and the young girl being attacked, my family and I have been questioning several things. I would like to thank the person who noticed this young man and called police. I'm very glad it turned out to be a false alarm, but the fact that someone was looking out for those kids and took action means a lot to this mother. "

 So wrote on October 8, 2008 4:38 pm:
" How are you suppose to carry a paint ball gun, or a beebee rifle or a cap gun? How about a knife? I recall someone caused a commotion in Von Mour because he cut through the store with his kitchen knives going over to Sheels to get them sharpened. "

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