Staff Reports
A Columbus Police Department school resource officer assigned to Central Middle School apprehended a local man in a staff parking lot who was carrying two concealed, loaded handguns.
At about 11:15 a.m. Wednesday, Columbus Police Department School Resource Officer Greg Ross saw the man, later identified as Michael K. Jones 38, of 2612 Griffa Ave., Columbus, acting suspiciously around vehicles in the Central Middle School staff parking area, said Lt. Matt Harris, Columbus Police Department spokesman.
The middle school, 725 Seventh St., in downtown Columbus, is located in the area of the Bartholomew County Library, CSA Lincoln and St. Peter’s Lutheran School. Central had about 650 students in the building on Wednesday, with CSA Lincoln at about 280 students in the building, school officials said.
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The parking area where the incident occurred is described as an “open access” area, meaning individuals can access it from nearby sidewalks or alleys surrounding the school.
Ross became suspicious of Jones, who had a dog with him, after he appeared to be acting strangely in the staff parking lot, investigators said.
In the staff parking lot, Ross asked Jones if he was carrying weapons and Jones told him he was, school officials said. Jones was taken into custody after Ross determined Jones was carrying two concealed, loaded handguns on his person while in the school parking lot.
School officials believe Jones entered school property from Lafayette Avenue or Fifth Street. Portions of the area are under camera surveillance, school officials said.
Central Middle School did not have time to place the school on lockdown as the incident happened very quickly and Jones was taken into custody immediately by the school resource officer, school officials said.
Jones was transported to the Bartholomew County Jail on a preliminary charge of Level 6 felony possession of a firearm on school property, initially detained on a 48-hour hold at the jail while the investigation continues.
It was a “great judgement call” from Ross, said Josh Burnett, BCSC spokesman, after the incident.{p style=”line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;” dir=”ltr”}{span style=”background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;”}{span style=”color: #000000;”}”They (school resource officers) do a great job of creating relationships, creating positive relationships with our students and staff, and also do an excellent job of making sure that they’re safe during the school day,” Burnett said. “Officer Ross has shown throughout his time at BCSC that he is excellent at both of those roles.”{/span}{/span}
Columbus Police Chief Michael Richardson commended Ross for his swift action to question and detain Jones in the parking lot.
“This is just one example of why we have veteran law enforcement officers in our Columbus schools. By being proactive, rather than reactive, Officer Ross was able to investigate and confront a potential threat to student safety and arrest the suspect without incident,” he said.
Detectives from the Columbus Police Department were assisting with an ongoing investigation into the incident Wednesday.
