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Lockdown lifted at John Kelley Elementary, search for suspect over

Published October 23, 2018 10:30 PM

Update 4:00 PM:

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department has ended the search for the suspect. The suspect has not been found. Authorities have reiterated that there is no threat to public safety.

{“url”:”https://twitter.com/RSOPIOEast/status/1054870461681565696″,”author_name”:”Riverside County Sheriff PIO-East”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/RSOPIOEast”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;&#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Thermal?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;#Thermal&#lt;/a&#gt; Deputies were unable to locate the male adult in the dirt field or surrounding area, search is complete and there is no threat to public safety, we would like to thank the public for their patience and understanding, station is now open to public &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/activeinvestigation?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;#activeinvestigation&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/p&#gt;– Riverside County Sheriff PIO-East (@RSOPIOEast) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/RSOPIOEast/status/1054870461681565696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;October 23, 2018&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}

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Original Story:

John Kelley Elementary school and the nearby Coachella Valley Unified School District offices in Thermal were placed on lockdown earlier today after a report of a man with a gun in a field near the school, according to Fred Gonzalez, CVUSD Director of Security.

Gonzalez said this was down as a precautionary measure. The law enforcement incident is near the school, not at the school itself. There is no threat to the school.

District officials said about a 100 students are still at the campus for after-school activities.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department remains at the campus. RSO utilized all available resources in the search, including SWAT team members, helicopter, police service dogs, and all available deputies.

{“url”:”https://twitter.com/RSOPIOEast/status/1054813798161252352″,”author_name”:”Riverside County Sheriff PIO-East”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/RSOPIOEast”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;&#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Thermal?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;#Thermal&#lt;/a&#gt; Search continues RSO utilizing all available resources i.e police service dogs, helicopter, SWAT Team members, and available deputies &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/activesearch?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;#activesearch&#lt;/a&#gt; in brush filled dirt lot & surrounding area&#lt;/p&#gt;– Riverside County Sheriff PIO-East (@RSOPIOEast) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/RSOPIOEast/status/1054813798161252352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;October 23, 2018&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}

Riverside County Sheriff’s Department deputies have set up a perimeter and are continuing to search the area for the possible suspect.

{“url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1054858095237586944″,”author_name”:”Jake Ingrassia”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;Officials say they’ve found tracks in the area and are following them – hoping for a lead to that armed man. &#lt;a href=”https://t.co/B5BFKiZN2d”&#gt;https://t.co/B5BFKiZN2d&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/p&#gt;– Jake Ingrassia (@JakeKESQ) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1054858095237586944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;October 23, 2018&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}

{“url”:”https://twitter.com/RSOPIOEast/status/1054800465878179840″,”author_name”:”Riverside County Sheriff PIO-East”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/RSOPIOEast”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;&#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Thermal?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;#Thermal&#lt;/a&#gt; RSO Deputies currently searching for a possibly armed male in the area of Airport and Polk …. please stay out of area, further info 2 follow &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/activesearch?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;#activesearch&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/p&#gt;– Riverside County Sheriff PIO-East (@RSOPIOEast) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/RSOPIOEast/status/1054800465878179840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;October 23, 2018&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}

The large law enforcement presence is concentrated near Airport Boulevard and Polk Street.

The police response began just before 11 a.m.

{“url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1054801139877605376″,”author_name”:”Jake Ingrassia”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;I’m on the scene — a man with a gun was spotted in the field next to John Kelly Elementary in &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/thermal?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;#thermal&#lt;/a&#gt;… police now searching for that man while the school and district office are on lockdown. &#lt;br&#gt;Streets blocked and chopper overhead – my live report on &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/KESQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;@KESQ&#lt;/a&#gt; at noon. &#lt;a href=”https://t.co/zh4vXS4yY5″&#gt;https://t.co/zh4vXS4yY5&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/p&#gt;– Jake Ingrassia (@JakeKESQ) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/JakeKESQ/status/1054801139877605376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;October 23, 2018&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department’s Thermal Station will be closed to the public until further notice.

{“url”:”https://twitter.com/RSOPIOEast/status/1054819094090854401″,”author_name”:”Riverside County Sheriff PIO-East”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/RSOPIOEast”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;&#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Thermal?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;#Thermal&#lt;/a&#gt; Due to active search our Thermal Station will be closed to the public until further notice … please stay out of area &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/activesearch?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;#activesearch&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/p&#gt;– Riverside County Sheriff PIO-East (@RSOPIOEast) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/RSOPIOEast/status/1054819094090854401?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;October 23, 2018&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}

A KESQ & CBS Local 2 news team is on the scene. Stay with us for the latest updates on this developing story.