And now comes a story out of an Ohio community about a Deputy Sheriff walking the halls of an elementary, junior high and high school, carrying his 40 caliber handgun and assisting in maintaining order. One slight problem, he was not a sheriff’s deputy!
Stan Donaldson, a reporter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer states that the suspect, a 21 year old security guard for a local mall, somehow obtained a deputy’s uniform and interacted with students and staff while roaming the halls.
The school district is, according to the article, working with the local police department to reevaluate it’s safety plan. According to Ken Trump, a national school safety expert quoted in the article, there have been only a handful of this type of incident reported. Indeed,and quite fortunately, the last time an event of this sort took place was in New Mexico in February of 2007. In that instance a sexual predator entered school grounds impersonating an officer and carrying a 6 inch folding knife. Thanks to the actions of the schools staff, who reported what they thought was suspicious behavior,specifically his appearance at all three schools in the same day, the suspect was apprehended and charged with impersonating an officer, possession of a deadly weapon and criminal trespassing. Apparently the suspect walked into a classroom and when the teacher asked if she could help him, he stated that he had the wrong classroom and walked out. One student became alarmed when he/she overheard him say that he would be back. The suspect had previously attended the high school in 2006, according to the Akron Suburbanite Newspaper.

Article written by Jack Thomas