COBB — Officials locked down Cobb Mountain Elementary School after the Sheriff”s Office received reports of a burglary suspect with a gun near the school about 1 p.m. Wednesday, about the time students got out of class.
The school released the students to parents and put them on a bus away from the campus, the Sheriff”s Office stated. No injuries were reported.
Beau Moore said his wife, who was scared, called him when she picked up their 7-year-old daughter and Sheriff”s Officers swarmed the school.
Moore followed the bus, picked up his friends” children and dropped them off at home to make sure they were safe, he said. He was almost more nervous about his wife, who is expecting their fourth child, he said.
About 12:55 p.m., a Cobb man called the sheriff”s office to report a man with a gun had entered his neighbor”s home on Meadow Drive with the apparent intent to rob him, said Capt. Jim Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff”s Office. Reports came in that a second man was seen on foot in the area and was possibly involved in the robbery attempt.
Both men left the area on foot in opposite directions as deputies were responding, Bauman said. People reported the man had a possibly .25-caliber handgun in his right jacket pocket as he walked from the scene.
As deputies approached the area, people reported to dispatch they saw the man with the gun on Highway 175 near the Cobb Mountain Elementary School and he took one of the trails into the woods behind the school, Bauman said. School was about let out, so officers advised school officials to lock down the facility.
Deputies arrived and began setting up a search perimeter for the man and securing the school.?
Despite an extensive search of the area, officers did not find the men, Bauman said.
Multiple units arrived in the area to assist with the search, including detectives with the Major Crimes Unit and a K-9 team. A CHP helicopter was also initially requested to help with the search but was canceled due to weather conditions.
Nothing was taken from the victim”s home and he was not injured, Bauman said.
A backpack similar to the one seen with the second man was later found near the Hardester”s Store and recovered by authorities.?
Officers are still investigating the apparent robbery attempt.
Lori Twomey said she picked up her daughter, Sofia, from the school before officers arrived on scene. The school sent out a recorded message to parents” phones that advised of an “incident” and said the school was locked down.
The man with the gun was described as a dark-skinned male in his 30s with short, corn-rowed hair and a goatee, 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-9, 180 to 200 pounds and wearing a black jacket, black boots, and tan carpenter type pants.
The second man was described only as having a dark complexion, wearing a baseball cap and carrying a backpack.?
Contact Katy Sweeny at kdsweeny@gmail.com or call her directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
