Sheriff's Deputies Search Neighborhood - Lockdown Lifted at San Marcos High School

Goleta - October 1st, 2009

Classes will resume at San Marcos High School Friday following Thursday’s lockdown in response to a reported subject with a gun near campus.

At approximately 10:15am on Thursday, October 1, 2009 Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the area of Hollister Avenue and Turnpike Road for the report of a teenage male with a handgun at the Turnpike Shopping Center across the street from the school.

A witness reported seeing a group of male teenagers in a verbal confrontation with another group of male teenagers who were driving in a car. The witness believed one of the males on the street pulled a gun and pointed it at the vehicle before he and his three companions ran across Turnpike in the direction of San Marcos High School.

Sheriff’s deputies saturated the neighborhood looking for the subjects from the ground and via the Sheriff’s Helicopter. Meantime, San Marcos High School Staff immediately began working with the Sheriff’s fulltime School Resource Officer on campus to lockdown the school. After all the teachers called in to report that the 1,800 students on campus were safe, a search of the school property began. The Sheriff’s Department also assigned deputies to nearby El Camino Elementary School, the San Marcos Parent-Child Workshop and the Salvation Army Daycare.

During the next several hours Sheriff’s deputies conducted a thorough search and concurrent investigation on the San Marcos campus in an attempt to identify any and all persons involved. Staff and students were highly cooperative while forgoing some comforts in food and bathroom breaks. Thanks to the cooperation of students and staff, Sheriff’s deputies were able to conduct a methodical search of the campus, moving and relocating some of the students to areas that had been determined to be safe and secure.

Superintendent Brian Sarvis stated, “Students are to be commended for their cooperation in that it assisted in the unfolding of the investigation.” He continued, “I was very impressed cooperation of students and staff and by the diligence of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department. I would also like to thank other agencies involved for their work in keeping our students safe.”

Due to the coordinated efforts of school staff, students and deputies, four male students were identified as possibly being involved in the initial confrontation. All four cooperated with school staff and deputies during the investigation. After being informed of the situation, they disclosed that they had been in a confrontation off campus and that one of them had actually pointed a sports drink bottle at the car.

Meantime, deputies continued their search of the campus for the alleged gun. Once it was determined that no students were currently in danger, the school and Sheriff’s Department began letting students off campus at 3:50pm while deputies continued their search. A final sweep of the campus was conducted and the investigation was completed at 6:00pm.

There were no arrests and no criminal charges will be filed. San Marcos High School will continue its investigation into whether the students broke any school rules.

Principal Norm Clevenger will talk about the matter tomorrow morning when he addresses all students during first period. Counseling services will be available to students and staff. Full administration, security, and school resource officer will be present on Friday.

“The Sheriff’s Department appreciates the cooperation of the students, parents and school staff,” said Incident Commander Darin Fotheringham. “Working together led to a safe conclusion to this potentially dangerous situation.”

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