SUSPECT DETAINED FOR PSYCHIATRIC EVALUATION AFTER THREAT INVOLVING HELIX HIGH SCHOOL

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STASH OF GUNS SEIZED AT SUSPECT'S HOME

 

January 14, 2011 (La Mesa) – This morning, the El Cajon Police Department received a call from an unidentified man at his residence in El Cajon. He made a vague comment about a shooting at Helix High School in La Mesa, then hung up upon being questioned by the dispatcher. El Cajon Police and La Mesa Police gathered information about the suspect to assess what was believed to be a potential threat.

. El Cajon Police, with assistance of La Mesa Police Department personnel, began an investigation into the origin of the 911 call.  The caller, a man in his 40s, was located at his home as 1266 El Mio Drive in El Cajon and was detained by El Cajon Police around noon on mental health grounds.

 

According to El Cajon Police, during the investigation, it was learned that the resident of the above address may be suffering from mental illness and possibly in possession of numerous firearms. In an attempt to facilitate an accurate evaluation of the individual, a clinician with the Psychiatric Emergency Response Team (P.E.R.T.), who was currently assigned to the Chula Vista Police Department, responded to the scene.

 

Once the exterior of the residence was secured, officers initiated additional phone calls into the residence. After several calls initially went unanswered, the resident eventually did answer the phone and agreed to come outside. He was detained and taken into protective custody and referred for a psychiatric evaluation by the on-scene P.E.R.T clinician.

 

A subsequent search warrant was obtained for the residence and numerous firearms were seized.

As police from El Cajon and La Mesa worked to locate the subject, other La Mesa officers contacted Helix High officials to advise them of this information. Helix High School’s administration placed the school on a “secure campus” alert as a precaution, where it remained until the subject had been detained.

 

La Mesa Police officers and Helix High School staff searched the campus to ensure there were no trespassers and that everything was safe. La Mesa officers remained at the school throughout the incident. As part of the incident response, officers maintained a secure perimeter around the school, in support of the “secure campus alert.”

 

A “secure campus” is different from an actual lock-down, in that a secure campus means that no one is permitted to enter or leave the school property, but classes continue. A lock-down is when teachers and students are locked inside their classrooms until the incident is cleared.

 

According to a press release issued by La Mesa Police, it appears that some individual classes may have initiated a lock-down within their own rooms, but that was not the official direction from the school administration. There may have been some misinterpretations among the school’s staff regarding the secure campus procedures which could have led to false reports about the school being in lock-down status.

 

The school was safe throughout the entire incident La Mesa Police Chief Alan Lanning assures. According to a press release issued by Lanning, the caller never attempted to go to the school, nor was there any information that a shooter was headed to Helix High School.  The caller did not phone the school. No SWAT team was ever at the school nor was SWAT ever contacted.

 

El Cajon Police are conducting the follow-up investigation of the subject.There is no direct connection between the caller and Helix High School, according to police.

 

Authorities have not released the name of the suspect.
 


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