By
The Associated Press
GLENDALE, Ariz. - An armed teen-ager briefly held a classroom full of children and a teacher hostage yesterday at his former elementary school before surrendering to authorities. No one was injured.
The former student at Pioneer Elementary School gave up after talking with members of a police SWAT team, police spokesman Matt Brown said. The standoff lasted about an hour.
"He came here with a purpose but thank goodness he didn't carry it out," said Brown. He did not elaborate beside saying that the boy had discussed the reason for his actions with police.
Brown said the portable classroom was full when the student walked in with a 9mm handgun, but he gradually let students go. There were still several people in the room at the time the student surrendered.
The children were about 13 or 14 years old, Brown said. The former student, the teacher and the other children were not identified.
It was not immediately known what prompted the situation.
Other students were bused to a high school, where parents could pick them up, and the school was closed. Several parents congregated at Pioneer Elementary, trying to find their children before the buses pulled out.
Joanna Chambers said she saw her son, Andrew, and waved to him. She said she had been nearby and had raced toward the school when she saw so many police cars heading in that direction.
"My gut told me I needed to go check the school," Chambers said.
Courtney Smith, who lives across the street from the school, said she saw the suspect enter the school grounds at about 11:15 a.m. He was wearing camouflage and had a hood over his head, but she didn't see a weapon.
"I didn't think anything of it. Next thing we know there were girls running out of the classroom screaming. They told us there was a kid inside with a gun holding kids hostage," Smith said. "They were hysterical, crying and screaming. They told us he'd threatened to kill them."
Terra Churchill was in her back yard, next to the school yard, when she heard the words "Code 9" announced over the loudspeaker. Her three daughters - Whitteny, 8, Britteny, 10, and Tiffeny, 12 - all attend Pioneer.
Churchill immediately called the school and was told the campus was in lockdown. About an hour later, she was standing in Smith's front yard when she saw police bring the suspect out.
"This is very frightening," she said. "Just to think of what all those kids are going through."
