Man with Gun Sends Vieja Valley School Into Lockdown

He admits carrying an unloaded shotgun from his vehicle to his home; no arrests have been made

By William M. Macfadyen, Noozhawk Publisher | updated logo | Published on 09.24.2009

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Vieja Valley School was locked down for about an hour Thursday morning while authorities searched for a man reportedly carrying “a large gun” near the campus at 434 Nogal Drive.

Sheriff’s Department spokesman Drew Sugars said deputies were dispatched at 7:18 a.m. to Modoc Road and Hollister Avenue after a passerby reported a man walking along Modoc Road with a rifle.

The school went into lockdown about 7:45 a.m., and the search continued, with multiple patrol units on the ground and the sheriff’s helicopter from the air, Sugars said. Santa Barbara police, the California Highway Patrol, UCSB police and Santa Barbara County Fire assisted.

About 8:30 a.m., deputies contacted a man who fit the description of the suspect, Sugars said. During the interview, the man confirmed he had carried one of his unloaded shotguns from his vehicle to his nearby home.

At this time, there have been no arrests.

Residents near the school, off Modoc Road in Hope Ranch annex, received a reverse 9-1-1 call informing them to lock their doors and remain in their homes, said Noozhawk contributor Leslie Dinaberg, a Vieja Valley parent.

The school’s lockdown was lifted about 9:20 a.m.

— Noozhawk publisher Bill Macfadyen can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk.

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» kspot on 09.24.09 @ 09:25 AM

great timely reporting, Noozhawk! nice to know we can get breaking news here as well as all the other goodies.

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» SBLife on 09.24.09 @ 09:40 AM

There was an arrest? From what I heard it was just a guy carrying his licensed firearm from his car to his residence.

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» Robin on 09.24.09 @ 11:14 AM

Is this the same man reported with a gun that sent Hollister School into lockdown Thursday morning as well???

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» Geez on 09.24.09 @ 02:37 PM

Can’t a guy just carry his gun around anymore without the whole world freaking out?

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» pooptastic on 09.24.09 @ 05:12 PM

This is great example of complete and insipid panic.

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» justmythoughts on 09.25.09 @ 05:08 AM

Man reported to be armed with arsenal of knives, some up to 14” long, in vicinity of local restaurant. Dressed all in white and carrying a large bag of groceries, he moved quickly down the sidewalk seemingly oblivious to the fear he might strike in those around him.  One local resident reported that she had heard someone refer to him as “The Butcher” and that she sometimes saw what she thought could be blood on his white, almost paramilitary clothes and that he often wore a colored scarf tied around his neck “like a bank robber might wear to cover his face” she said.  Others stated that he was usually quiet and kept to himself keeping odd and long hours and occasionally stepping into a nearby alley for a quick smoke…

The story is not the man with the gun but with our media fueled overreaction to every perceived threat.

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» John Locke on 09.25.09 @ 11:48 AM

Pathetic.

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» ya' all just need to simmer down on 09.25.09 @ 12:01 PM

Isn’t this a case of authorities reacting to a possible threat to local residents, and the media reporting the outcome?  IF the authorities has not ordered a lockdown, and the media not reported it, some would have criticized the lack of leadership and lack of coverage of news that is of interest to residents. Just calm down!

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» Sonofman on 09.26.09 @ 11:02 PM

This whole thing makes laugh, my dad was the man with the guns walking on Modoc.  Here is what really happened, my dad had just picked up his old NON OPERATIONAL shotguns which were old family heirlooms and was transporting them to a friends house to have them shipped up to our property in Idaho.  He parked his truck out on Modoc and was carrying them down the street a little ways to his friends house.  The problem was that they were not in any cases which I’m sure must have freaked out the local passer bys.

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» grass on 09.28.09 @ 07:49 PM

I wondered why all the cop cars were there when I drove by, I thought for a second I should pull out my camera and get a story, some breaking news, (unlikely to get paid for it) but I was afraid I would get shot by the cops, and they would just say I looked suspicious, and get a paid vacation.

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» DaddyofaKidatThatSchool on 01.04.10 @ 09:03 PM

Yep, not only cost our school its daily state revenue, but cost the local law enforcement (and our community as a result) thousands of dollars in man hours, equipment costs, and even helicopter time. “But guns are such terrible things that we should get rid of them all and definitely not educate ourselves about them.”

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