A lockdown was declared at San Ysidro High School Friday as police searched for a suspect connected to a loaded and illegal firearm found in a car parked on campus.
San Diego police officers were on patrol around 10 a.m. according to OnScene.TV and as they passed through the parking lot, one smelled marijuana. He saw four to five people, who appeared to be students, standing around a Ford Mustang and smoking near the school office.
As he approached, the males started to walk away and head onto the school grounds.
One of the males, however, ran back to the Mustang and threw an object inside, then fled southbound through the school, prompting the officers to give chase.
The male who fled ran onto the athletic fields and jumped a fence, entering the canyons behind the school.
SDPD set up a perimeter and the school went into lockdown, “out of an abundance of caution,” a watch commander said. Officers also searched the Mustang and found a loaded handgun in the car.
Police described the firearm as a loaded ghost gun with an extended magazine.
After approximately 30 minutes of searching, with assistance from the police department’s ABLE helicopter, officers took the male into custody without further incident.
Authorities did not release his name, but said that the suspect is not a student, and is under 21 years of age.
The school, OnScene reported, is trying to identify the other males who were with the man who fled using footage from security cameras. It is unclear whether or not they are students.
