Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor
GLENDORA - A Chino man was taken into custody Tuesday during an hours-long lockdown of Citrus College after the suspect called police and threatened the school.
Terrell Lee Bennett, 30, surrendered peacefully on the Citrus College campus at 3:42 p.m. -- nearly five hours after making the threats, according to the Glendora Police Department. Bennett made statements after being arrested alluding to a desire to die by officer gunfire, police said.
Bennett called Glendora Police at 11:17 a.m. and threatened to shoot up the school. Within 11 minutes, police had the campus and surrounding streets locked down. Mutual aid from numerous surrounding agencies arrived soon after to assist, Glendora Police said.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Arson/Explosives Detail was summoned to the scene just before 11:40 a.m. after Bennett’s car was located. The silver four-door car was parked in the S1 parking lot, which rests in the corner of Citrus Avenue and Foothill Bouelvard. While not stated by Glendora Police, a bomb-sniffing dog preliminarily detected a scent of explosives on the car, according to police radio traffic. However, Arson/Explosives technicians found no bombs inside the car, Glendora Police said. The car was towed away just after 6 p.m., followed by several Glendora Police cruisers. Bennett is enrolled in online courses at Citrus College and was scheduled to appear for an in-person class, Glendora Police said. Officers began a room-to-room search of each building at 12:38 p.m. Most students were kept in darkened classrooms for hours during the searches. Some gave first-hand accounts of their ordeal -- little food, water, no restroom breaks and little information about what was happening. Nearby Azusa Pacific University was also placed on lockdown during the search.
Members of the Foothills Special Enforcement Team entered classrooms to check on students.
Nearby schools, such as Azusa High School, Charles H. Lee Elementary School and Foothill Middle School in Azusa had lunch period activities inside classrooms during the threat, according to the Azusa Unified School District.
After a thorough search of the campus, the lockdown was lifted at 5:58 p.m. Evening classes at Citrus College were cancelled shortly after the lockdown was lifted. |
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