COCC, NW Bend schools locked down over ‘armed subject’; orienteering compass mistaken for gun
(Update: Adding video; police, college say it was orienteering compass)
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Several reports of a person pointing a handgun in a classroom at Central Oregon Community College prompted lockdowns, lockouts and a major police call-out Thursday afternoon, until officers determined it was a false alarm – someone with an orienteering compass, officers said.
Several callers to Deschutes County 911 reported around 3:12 p.m. that a gun had been pointed at an occupied classroom at COCC’s Cascade Culinary Institute, Lt. Juli McConkey said in a joint Bend Police Department/COCC statement.
Bend police, Deschutes County sheriffs deputies, Oregon State Police and Redmond police responded to the school, while COCC was placed on lockdown just after 3:30 p.m.
Summit High School and Pacific Crest Middle School also were placed in SECURE status (formerly referred to as a lockout, where no one is allowed in but, unlike a lockdown, people are free to move about and leave).
The reporting parties gave a description of the person who reportedly had a handgun. McConkey said officers found and contacted the person matching that description at the COCC campus and learned it was an orienteering compass, mistaken for a handgun.
The lockdowns and lockouts lasted about a half-hour.
The text and social media post sent by COCC around 3:30 p.m. had told recipients to "lock doors, turn off lights, stay out of sight. Maintain silence, prepare to evade or defend using Run, Hide, Fight protocols.
"If you are off campus, DO NOT come to campus until further notice. Please do not call the campus so we can keep College phone lines free for emergency communication.
"We will post information at https://www.cocc.edu/emergency as it becomes available and will continue to use this system when we have more information," the posted message concluded.
COCC's update said: "There is no threat and it safe to move about the campus, including in and around Cascade Culinary Institute," where the report originated.
