After a school near Phoenix went on lockdown Friday after someone called police to report a man with a gun walking by, a number of parents descended on the school intent on rescuing their children, forcing police to taze two and arrest three, USA Today reports.
The Thompson Ranch Elementary School in El Mirage, Arizona went on lockdown when someone with a handgun attempted to gain access to either the elementary school or the attached administrative building. The alert put both buildings on lockdown. Police say the man never made it into the building and by the time police arrived, they could not locate the man, if he even existed. Police did find what they deemed to be a suspicious package at the scene, although it was initially unknown if it was related to the “man with a gun” report.
After the school went on lockdown, a number of students with cell phones contacted their parents, and parents started arriving on the scene en masse as police were trying to search and clear the area. Many tried to breach the police line to gain access to the campus to pull their children out, thinking police weren’t acting fast enough because they thought this was an active shooter situation, not a false alarm, which some schools go through on a weekly basis.
Because some parents didn’t know what’s going on and would not listen to police, they charged toward the school, forcing officers to taze them. One other parent, who was carrying a handgun, was also arrested by police.
The children were eventually evacuated from the school and sent home safely. The package was deemed safe by police technicians.