Multiple agencies respond to Enoch Elementary where teacher reported an armed man at the door

Stock image | Photo by Barbol88/iStock/Getty Images Plus, St. George News / Cedar City News

CEDAR CITY — Police responded en masse Tuesday to Enoch Elementary after witnesses reported a man outside of the school with a gun they later discovered was only a toy.

The call came in for Enoch Police at around 5:15 p.m. However, officers from the Cedar City Police Department, Utah Highway Patrol and the Iron County Sheriff’s Office all showed up on scene to assist.

A teacher still working at the school called 911 after she saw the man standing at the main entrance of the school with what she initially thought was a gun. She later realized the weapon had an orange tip indicating it was a toy, Enoch Police Chief Jackson Ames said.

“The man had apparently knocked on the door and she went to answer it thinking he was a parent for one of the three or four students still at the school,” Ames said. “When she went to open the door, he pulled out the gun. She backed away and then recognized it was a toy gun.”

The man lives in a local residence managed by Chrysalis, a service that provides homes and full-time staff for those who suffer from mental and physical disabilities.

Authorities returned him to his home. He was fully compliant with law enforcement, Ames said.

Chrysalis staff told police the man had spent the day with his mom who was supposed to have notified them upon his return. When staff came back to the house and realized he had been there they were in the process of taking necessary steps when the police knocked on the door.

The man was not arrested in this incident. However, police are sending the case to the Iron County Attorney’s Office for review and a possible charge of disorderly conduct, Ames said.

Iron County Attorney-elect Chad Dotson said he did not yet have enough information about the case to comment on any potential charges at this time.

While this incident alarmed the teachers and students on campus at the time, authorities are more concerned now that this was not the first time this same man has left his home to wander the community.

“One time he wandered into someone’s yard and picked up a snow shovel,” Ames said. “He was very disoriented and didn’t appear to know where he was.”

The chief said he did not believe the man posed any risk to the community as he has never shown any aggression toward citizens. However, he has been confrontational with police in the past.

“You have to understand this is not a case where there is mental illness but rather a man who is mentally disabled,” authorities said. “It’s like he’s an 8-year-old boy in a 30-year-old man’s body.”

Enoch police plan to coordinate with Chrysalis administrators and staff to keep any more incidents from happening in the future, Ames said.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.

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4 Comments

  • Comment November 13, 2018 at 10:46 pm

    Sounds like some kind of cover-up by authorities. The man is obviously a terrorist.

  • KR567 November 14, 2018 at 12:56 am

    Yeah right Bob

  • Larry November 15, 2018 at 6:00 am

    to day a toy gun…tomorrow a leaf blower…oh my!

  • Mike P November 16, 2018 at 10:26 am

    Upon further investigation it was discovered the man actually had TWO arms…………..

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