Published: August 19, 2008 01:19 am      

School locked down after altercation

No children hurt in reported incident between 2 parents at Charles Russell Elementary

ASHLAND — School officials locked down Charles Russell Elementary Monday after reports of a scuffle between two parents, one of whom may have had a knife.

No children were hurt or in apparent danger during the incident and there were no confirmed reports of injuries to either of the adults involved in the altercation.

The lockdown happened around 3 p.m. when school was about to dismiss for the day, said district administrator Myra Robertson.

Student safety patrol members had to be called back into the building and both the school and the nearby South Ashland Family Resource Center were locked, Robertson said.

Children and school staff all remained in locked classrooms for the duration of the incident.

Police requested the school conduct the lockdown after receiving calls that two men were fighting, and that one of them may have been armed with a knife, said police Chief Rob Ratliff. Police had not yet confirmed Monday whether a knife actually was involved, he said.

Shortly after the lockdown began, a paramedic led an unidentified man to an ambulance. The man appeared unsteady but showed no visible signs of a wound. Ratliff said police didn’t see evidence the man was wounded.

The man was not in custody when the ambulance left the school, and Ratliff said he is not a suspect.

The other man left the school and police kept the lockdown in effect until they found him. Ratliff didn’t release either man’s name.

During the lockdown, several parents gathered around the entrances to the school with cell phones to their ears but all appeared calm.

When the doors opened at about 4:15 p.m., there were a few tearful hugs but most students walked to their buses or parents with no signs of stress.

Students practice lockdown procedures regularly, Robertson said. ’This is something all our schools do.’

The length of a lockdown depends on when police and school officials believe it is safe to allow students out, said Ashland safe schools coordinator Mark Swift.