Calls had individual with two guns at STA bus stop, near Wren Pierson and Mason Jar
Eastern Washington University and Cheney School District facilities were placed in temporary lockdown as law enforcement searched the area for a possible armed individual last Thursday afternoon.
EWUPD Lt. Jay Day said they received a report of a white male, wearing khaki pants and a black shirt and black hat and carrying two handguns, one on his hip and the other in a hand, walking near the Spokane Transit Authority bus stop at Elm and C streets at approximately 3 p.m. on May 3. The public was alerted via social media, and occupants of nearby campus buildings were advised to shelter in place.
Cheney Schools Superintendent Rob Roettger said students were out of classes at their respective schools for the day at the time the notifications came in, which did so via a variety of sources. Roettger said he was contacted by the district’s public safety director, Kelly Hembach, who was monitoring EWU communications while some teachers and administrators found out directly from an EWU Twitter feed.
While classes might have been done for the day, extracurricular activities at the schools were just beginning. Roettger said they took immediate steps to notify teachers and coaches about the situation and get students who were outdoors in activities inside until notified any danger had passed.
Day said university and Cheney police officers searched the area, and followed up on reports of the individual that came from other parts of the city. Day said one had the man near the Wren Pierson Community Center on Fourth and C streets, and another just west of the Mason Jar on First Street.
Authorities were unable to local the individual, although a follow up call of two armed men in a truck proved to be false after the vehicle was subsequently stopped. Police eventually lifted the shelter in place advisory around 4 p.m.
Day said other than a generic description and direction of travel, police have little to go on to further an investigation.
“Right now, we’re kind of at a dead end,” he said.
While Washington is an open carry state, Day said that chapters in the Washington Administrative Code prohibit firearms near public institutions such as EWU.
“That was our concern,” Day added.
For Roettger at the school district, the concern came from the time of day the incident took place. While district schools drill for these potential incidents during class time, something happening outside presents different scenarios and challenges officials need to review and develop better plans to address.
“It’s not 1:30 when we’re all in place,” Roettger said. “It’s after school when we’ve got teams and buses all over.”
John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].
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