Audrey Caro
Sarah Brown
Lebanon Local
Lebanon Police are investigating a call they received about a Lebanon High School student with a handgun on campus the morning of May 18.
“We still don’t know if there was a gun,” said LPD Chief Frank Stevenson. “It’s an active investigation and we’re still following up on every lead that’s come to us.”
The mother of the student who was alleged to have the gun, who the police are calling a person of interest, brought him to LPD. The mother and the juvenile are cooperating.
“They are talking with us so we can find out what happened,” Stevenson said.
At 9:44 a.m. LPD received a call from a parent that an LHS student saw another student with what appeared to be a handgun at LHS.
“We had a credible threat of a gun on campus,” said Lebanon Community School District Superintendent Rob Hess. “The high school went into lockdown, meaning (we thought) the intruder was inside. We didn’t know if it was a rumor or gossip.”
The student left the school before LPD arrived.
When there “was evidence” that the student had left LHS, the other schools in town were put on lockout, Hess said.
Law enforcement officers searched the area around LHS and the interior of the school, room-by-room, simultaneously, according to an LPD news release.
Parents filled out forms to establish their connection to their child and lined up outside the front of LHS to pick them up.
“No one gets released unless we have parent contact,” Hess said.
Students who were 18 years old were able to sign themselves out.
Waiting students were fed lunch in the cafeteria.
Fifth Street was closed between Airport Road and F Street.
LPD responded with assistance from the Oregon State Police, Linn County Sheriff’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Sweet Home Police Department.
There have been no reports of shots fired or injuries, according to an LPD news release.
Photos by Audrey Caro