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She Said, Z Said: Lockdown
She: Here’s a word I didn’t think would be on Koss’ vocabulary test this year: lockdown.
Z: When you go to school in the hardscrabble neighborhood on the outskirts of Hope Ranch, pretty much anything can happen.
She: I still can’t believe some moron was walking on the street with a shotgun.
Z: It’s OK. I hear he was going to an Obama health-care rally.
She: When I pulled up to school, there were a handful of parents and the crossing guard directing people back home.
Z: Sounds like an elaborate hoax by some kid trying to get out of a test. Koss didn’t have a test that day, did he?
She: It completely freaked me out. There were also police cars all over the place, a helicopter and a news crew.
Z: Definitely a different vibe from the usual PTA mom selling raffle tickets.
She: She went home and locked her kids in their rooms, just to be safe.
Z: And you?
She: We went home and drew pictures. And then I locked the door, just in case.
Z: The good thing is that at least it was just a guy carrying his shotgun from his car to his house. The bad thing is that the guy is clearly a moron. He had a big gun on a suburban street next to a school, and failed to put it in a case.
She: In Santa Barbara.
Z: Context is everything. If this were Texas, then a guy on the street with a shotgun would just be called Wednesday morning.
She: Or Tennessee. I remember going to Tucker’s wedding, where a friend of his directed us to her truck as the only one in the parking lot without the gun racks.
Z: So do you think there was police overreaction?
She: No. There’s a guy on the street with a shotgun near a school in Santa Barbara. If I drove past that, I’d call the cops, too.
Z: You wouldn’t wait to see what he was doing?
She: Yeah. That’s me. I’m going to hang out to see what the guy with the shotgun on the street near a school in Santa Barbara is doing. Because I can use my karate to take care of that situation, or perhaps my magic wand.
Z: Really, you’re making the argument that you would have been safe if only you had a gun, too.
She: Ha! Can you imagine me with a gun? I’d maybe have four toes left at this point. Then again, it might be fun to Bedazzle a .45.
Z: Don’t forget that what he did was perfectly legal.
She: That doesn’t make it any less stupid. Especially not the same week that a house filled with illegal arms gets raided across the street from another local elementary school.
Z: I remember when the only “guns” in town were surfboards and my biceps.
She: Have you been using my magic wand?
Z: Only to curl with. I didn’t want to start at too big of a weight.
She: Anyway, at least we know our school has good safety procedures. I don’t think the kids had any idea how panicked their parents were. I was very happy with the way the school handled everything.
Z: Koss said he was bummed he missed the games in his class that morning.
She: Little did he know we were playing our own game of “try to act like it’s a normal thing to be sent home while your school is in lockdown mode.”
Z: Ah, suburbia.
She: Yes, dear.
— When She and Z aren’t reflecting on the rash of almost-crime in their neighborhood, they can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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» on 09.28.09 @ 04:19 AM
except he wasn’t “next to a school” at all… he was on Modoc Road.
» on 09.28.09 @ 08:42 AM
Modoc Road borders the back field of the school.
» on 09.28.09 @ 08:45 AM
Wow. Glad everything turned out okay. Sounds like a scary week.
» on 09.28.09 @ 09:03 AM
It makes me so sad that we have to be on alert for danger in our sleepy little town. I’m glad it turned out to be just someone who wasn’t thinking. Will he be charged for lying to police (as reported elsewhere?)?
» on 09.28.09 @ 09:06 AM
I heard about this. Didn’t they lock down some Goleta Schools too?
» on 09.28.09 @ 09:36 AM
This was such a ridiculous overreaction. My guess is that if whoever called had waited less than 1 minute to call the police they would have figured out what was going on. Or if they just looked at the gun I guarantee that the chamber was open to indicate that the gun was unloaded.
» on 09.28.09 @ 12:59 PM
Guess it’s time you move to Canton, Georgia, where it is perfectly safe all the time.
» on 09.28.09 @ 02:21 PM
I was riding my bike to work down Modoc & saw the guy with the rifle. He was just walking down the street holding the gun as nonchalant as if he had a walking stick. It sure wasn’t obvious if the rifle was loaded or not.
» on 09.28.09 @ 02:29 PM
We live in a city. Not out in the country or Detroit. So seeing some one with a gun of any kind is going to cause a bit of an over reaction. Most people are not going to know if a shot gun is loaded or not by looking at it. Even though we see violence and guns in movies in real life your brain does not work that way. I even think in a place like Austin Tx. This would of caused a bit of a panic too.
With all the school shootings, home invasions, and other types of violent crime our society lives with this is not a surprising reaction.
I as a previous gun owner want to hit the fool upside the head for being stupid. These are the types of things that make all gun owners look stupid. Put it in a case. So simple.
» on 09.28.09 @ 02:48 PM
You call this a *city* - haha
Even if he had it in a soft or hard case, some liberal tree hugging wanna save the environment busy-body would have called the cops.
It is what it is.
If you don’t like it - move.
» on 09.28.09 @ 05:46 PM
Honestly, though it may seem like an overreaction now that alls well that ends well, I’d much rather go overboard when it comes to protecting school kids. Good job on the schools (both SB, Hope and Goleta) and police.
» on 09.29.09 @ 08:17 AM
It’s good to know that average citizens have guns in addition to your neighborhood drug cartel and gang members. Makes me feel safer.
» on 09.29.09 @ 10:12 AM
No big surprise this one brought out the nutjobs. I’m just happy the police and the schools were up to their jobs. I’m with the person who said “all’s well that ends well.”
» on 09.29.09 @ 10:13 AM
It’s so sad that someone would be so irresponsible near a school. Hopefully that “licensed gun owner” will show some better judgement from now on.
» on 09.29.09 @ 01:27 PM
Modoc Road does NOT border the back field of the school at all.
Seriously, look it up if you don’t believe me. The School is at least 1/4 mile away, across riding rings, private property, and open fields (that have nothing to do with the school).
» on 09.29.09 @ 06:06 PM
Carol:
Define ‘nut jobs’
Perhaps you are another one of the ‘sub-american socialist liberals’ who don’t care what our founding fathers and many many Americans fought for.
(Clue: Amendments to the United States Constitution - read the 2nd one - you might learn something - in fact, read them all)
» on 09.29.09 @ 06:21 PM
I still can’t believe that happened here.
» on 09.30.09 @ 09:51 AM
I think the largest concern about Modoc Road is that it runs into the bike path to school, which many children (and parents) are using to GET to school that time of day. As a Vieja family we have always had concerns about that path so I was happy to see the police take this issue so seriously. I am relieved it didn’t turn out to be dangerous (just dumb) but still skeptical about why this man with the gun initially lied to the police. Hopefully Noozhawk will do some more reporting about this matter. Will he be charged? Asked to reimburse the county for the expense? It seems like there should be some consequences.
» on 10.03.09 @ 08:29 PM
I’m happy there is a non-criminal with a gun to guard the school.
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