Sheriff’s deputies arrested two teenagers outside Lakewood High School after at least one of them pointed a gun at a campus safety officer Friday afternoon, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
The incident triggered a short school lockdown, but ultimately nobody was hurt, according to a sheriff’s department lieutenant who declined to provide his name because he works on narcotics investigations. He said deputies recovered two guns during the incident.
The two teenagers, who haven’t been publicly identified, were not Lakewood students nor affiliated with the Long Beach Unified School District, according to an email Assistant Principal Johnathan Hayes sent to parents at the campus.
Authorities did not immediately know what prompted the teens to arrive near school grounds with the weapons.
The school lockdown lasted from 2:20 to 2:35 p.m., according to an alert that was sent out to students’ parents.
Jaclyn Correa said her “heart sank” when she received the message from her son’s school.
“My heart sank because I had just picked him up five minutes before,” Correa said. “He is on the baseball team and they don’t have a period seven, so on certain days he gets out early. Then my son’s friends were calling him to see if he made it off campus.”
A statement from the school later that day said school operations resumed by 3 p.m. and “students and staff remained safe.”
“I’m very grateful the police were there fast and they de-escalated the situation,” Correa said.
LASD detain 2 people after receiving call of person with firearm near Lakewood High School