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Some South Coast Junior High School Students Caught in Lockdown Due To Gunman In Washington, D.C.

(Photo by Joey Ogle)
Santa Barbara County junior high school students temporrily trapped in Capitol complex in Washington, D.C. due to lockdown prompted by armed man

More than 80 high school students from the South Coast were among those caught in a lockdown of some key Washington, D.C. buildings today after a man armed with a gun tried to enter the Capitol’s Visitors Center.

84 eighth grade students and seven teachers from La Colina, Goleta Valley, and Santa Barbara Junior High Schools were touring the Capitol complex when the confrontation occurred. The students were safe, but were confined to a secure area for about an hour. They were able to send messages to their parents letting them know they were safe.

After the lockdown, the group continued its touring, which was scheduled to include visits to the Supreme Court, the Smithsonian, and several other Washington, D.C. landmarks tonight. The group is in the middle of a five day visit to the capitol.

A Capitol police officer shot and wounded a man who pulled out a gun at security checkpoint at the visitor’s center. The man was seriously wounded, and a bystander received minor injuries in what police are describing as an isolated incident.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral.