CLEARFIELD, Utah -- One voter joined about 740 students in a three-minute lockdown at Holt Elementary School after police received a call about a gun in the area.
Officers responding to the 9:33 a.m. Tuesday report about a child with a gun in the school's neighborhood quickly determined the 9-year-old mentally challenged boy was just playing with "an obvious toy rifle," said Clearfield Police Chief Greg Krusi.
"We had a bit of a hiccup this morning," Principal Christine Wahlquist said after Tuesday's incident.
The school's DARE officer had informed her about the possible danger, and "it was my call to do a lockdown and make sure everyone was safe," Wahlquist said.
However, "we barely had time to initiate the procedure, and then it was over."
The sole voter attempting to cast a ballot inside the school was told to take cover under a table and wait for an all-clear, said Davis County Clerk/Auditor Steve Rawlings.
During the incident, Rawlings said, only one other voter pulled into the parking lot and was told to cast a ballot at another location.
"We have alternate plans in case something like this happens," he said.
With the electronic voting system, all of the information is on the state's database, so voters can cast ballots for their precincts at other locations, Rawlings said.
Wahlquist said the boy who was playing with the toy rifle does not attend Holt Elementary but either lives near the school or was visiting a home nearby.
Copyright 2011 - Standard-Examiner, Ogden, Utah
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
