San Ysidro High School was placed on lockdown after officers pursued a man who tossed a gun into a car he and other men were smoking marijuana in.
SAN DIEGO — San Ysidro High School was placed on lockdown while an armed man was being pursued Friday morning after officers on routine patrol spotted five men smoking marijuana in the school’s parking lot.
San Diego Police officers on routine patrol at San Ysidro High School around 10 a.m. Friday smelled marijuana emanating from a vehicle parked near the school’s main office and spotted four to five men standing around a Ford Mustang.
As SDPD officers approached the vehicle, four of the men began walking away from the car, while one of the men tossed an unknown object into the car and began sprinting towards a nearby field, according to Art Swadener, Watch Commander for San Diego Police Department.
Officers said San Ysidro High School was placed on lockdown “out of an abundance of caution” due to the possibility of a firearm being involved.
Authorities pursued the man, who took off towards the hills after officers requested he stop.
Airborne Law Enforcement was requested to assist officers in their foot pursuit and in locating the suspect.
Officers located the man, only identified as an 18-year-old who was not a student at San Ysidro High, hiding in a bush in a canyon near San Ysidro High School, Swadener said.
Video from OnScene.TV showed officers walking the 18-year-old suspect up a trail to their patrol vehicles while he smiled at news cameras on the scene.
Authorities were working with school officials to identify the other four men surrounding the car but have yet to determine who they were or whether they were San Ysidro High School students.
While officers worked to get the 18-year-old suspect in custody, another officer stayed with the vehicle, where they located a loaded ghost gun with an extended magazine.
San Ysidro High was lifted off lockdown without further incident.
No injuries were reported.
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