Cryptic call leads to ‘soft’ school lockdowns, 1 arrest; Adams man, 57, allegedly makes general threats
Published 7:30 am Wednesday, December 13, 2017
The Southland and LeRoy-Ostrander School Districts were placed on a soft lockdown on Monday after a cryptic call to a crisis hotline warned of a “mass casualty” event.
According to Mower County Sheriff Terese Amazi, authorities in Texas contacted the county regarding a call made to a rape crisis hotline at 7 a.m. on Monday. They said the caller, a man from Adams, was having suicidal thoughts and gave non-specific threats about a “mass casualty” event.
Grady Lee Gabbard, 57
Law enforcement established a perimeter around the Adams home of Grady Lee Gabbard, 57, because they wanted to speak to him about the call.
After law enforcement officials notified the school district, Southland and LeRoy-Ostrander School Superintendent Jeff Sampson placed both school districts on a soft lockdown, meaning the outside doors to the buildings were locked as a precaution.
The lockdown was lifted after about 15 minutes shortly after 3 p.m.
“We had a few calls with concerns from parents about what was going on,” Sampson said. “We told them about the information given to us by law enforcement, that there was concern of an individual. For the most part, parents were pretty understanding.”
Sampson said the schools would have gone into a hard lockdown (doors locked lights off and no movement) if there was an active threat to the school.
A trained negotiator contacted Gabbard, who was very angry, on the phone, Amazi said.
Gabbard surrendered peacefully at 4 p.m. He was arrested and taken to Mower County Jail, where he is awaiting potential charges of felony threats of violence and misdemeanor domestic assault.
A review of Gabbard’s criminal record shows prior convictions for making harassing phone calls and a prior conviction for domestic assault.
Sampson praised the faculty and students
for their handling of
the situation.
“It doesn’t happen very often, but you have to train for those situations because the safety of the students and staff is our top priority,” he said. “All of our staff, students and parents did a great job of being patient in going through with this process.”
