No armed man at school, police say

In Hope, authorities investigate, find out-of-towner just wanted directions

HOPE — Authorities investigating a report of a man trying to enter a school Tuesday concluded on Wednesday that no criminal act or criminal intent occurred.

The man — who was from out of town — had tried to enter the New Tech Building of Hope High School’s campus Tuesday to ask directions to the community college, said Hope Assistant Police Chief Kimberly Tomlin in a news release Wednesday evening.

A student had reported that a man wearing a gun was outside the high school Tuesday morning, causing school officials to briefly lock down Hope High. Officials with the University of Arkansas Community College at Hope shut down their campus that day.

Police Chief J.R. Wilson said in the Wednesday news release that students alerting police based on what was “genuinely believed to be accurate and occurring at the time ... is exactly what they should have done.

“Notifying Police early of potentially threatening events is very important” the chief said in the news release. “This affords police the best opportunity to conduct successful emergency response and prevent problems.”

No charges are anticipated to be filed, the chief said.

The high alert in Hope is seen as an example of the effect of the December shootings of students and staff at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school, is having across the nation these days.

Aside from officials being extra cautious and on high alert, lawmakers and policymakers across the country and at the federal level are considering ways to help reduce the chances of such rampages.

Twenty first-graders and six staff members were killed Dec. 14 by gunfire from a semiautomatic rifle at Connecticut’s Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Authorities said the gunman, Adam Lanza, killed his mother at their home before going to the school. He fatally shot himself as police arrived. It’s still unclear what motivated the attack.