Law officials praise school staff for quick action
Local law enforcement officials believe that Calaveras
Elementary School administrators did a good job in securing the
school after a gun scare a week ago and parents have said they’re
not worried about further outbreaks of violence.
Calaveras School went into an emergency two-hour lockdown
Friday, Dec. 16, after two parents
– one armed with a gun – got into a fight in the school’s
parking lot during the annual Christmas program.
Law officials praise school staff for quick action
Local law enforcement officials believe that Calaveras Elementary School administrators did a good job in securing the school after a gun scare a week ago and parents have said they’re not worried about further outbreaks of violence.
Calaveras School went into an emergency two-hour lockdown Friday, Dec. 16, after two parents – one armed with a gun – got into a fight in the school’s parking lot during the annual Christmas program.
It was the school district’s good fortune that a detective from the San Benito County Sheriff’s Department was driving past the school that day and saw the men fighting in the parking lot. The detective drew his weapon and ordered the men onto the ground at which point a gun fell out of one of the suspect’s pockets.
What cannot immediately be answered is why the two men were on campus in the first place, or what might have happened had the sheriff’s officer not have been driving by and witnessed the fight.
The detective secured the weapon and called for backup.
Some of the people attending the performance were in a panic, but most remained calm. The sheriff’s department said that not knowing whether anyone else was involved, the school was placed on lockdown.
It was around 11:10 a.m. when the school’s principal – Christine White – initiated “Code Blue” procedures, locking down all entrances to the school and forcing students to stay in their classrooms.
Several parents attending the Christmas program had called police when the two men began fighting and both were arrested within a matter of minutes, but students remained in lockdown for two hours, officials said.
Both suspects had known gang ties, but police have said they believe the incident was not gang related, Police Spokesman George Ramirez said. No one was injured and no shots were fired, police said.
Police believe the two Hollister men, Peter Prado, 27, and Mark Farve, 37, began fighting over a personal dispute, Ramirez said. Both men were attending the Christmas program and both are parents of students at the school, officials said.
Prado was arrested on charges including possession of a firearm on campus, possession of a firearm by a felon, assault with a deadly weapon, brandishing a deadly weapon and fighting on campus, police said. Farve was arrested for fighting on campus and violating a court order.
Under District Attorney’s new zero-tolerance policy for gun crime, Prado will not be able to plead to lesser charges.
Unfortunately the incident happened just before all the faculty and students left for the holiday break, so. Ron Crates, superintendent for the Hollister School District, said that they are going to have to wait until after the break to fully debrief on the situation.
Crates could not specifically speak to why this incident occurred at Calaveras, but said he felt that everyone did a wonderful job responding to the incident. He said that he informed his board of the situation immediately and wrote them all personal letters as well.
It was not Crates’ belief that anyone can be kept off of a school campus because of a past history of incarceration. “Any person who is not on probation has a right to be on campus. We want people to feel comfortable on campus.”
Crates said that he spoke to parents and students at Calaveras that day and the indication he got was that everyone felt safe at the school and that there was no problem.
