Update 12:45: Tahoe schools remain locked down, parents directed to Zephyr Cove Park

Staff Reports
March 27, 2008, 11:57 AM

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More than a dozen Douglas County law enforcement personnel, including
Sheriff Ron Pierini, are at Whittell High School and Zephyr Cove Elementary
School responding to a report of a man dressed in black carrying a rifle on
the hill above the schools at Zephyr Cove.

The schools are on lockdown which means no one is allowed to enter or leave
the campuses.

Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Jim Halsey said the sheriff’s office was called at
11:28 a.m. by an aide at Zephyr Cove Elementary who reported seeing a man
dressed in black carrying a weapon that resembled a rifle.

Halsey said members of the Special Weapons and Tactics team and canine units
were on scene.

Halsey said any parents showing up at the schools are being directed to
Zephyr Cove Park until the campuses have been cleared.

A school officials said students and teachers responded to the lockdown in
an orderly fashion and the situation was calm inside the classroom.