By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

A St. Joseph elementary school went into a very brief lockdown this morning after a parent spotted a man with a rifle nearby.

The St. Joseph School District confirms Carden Park Elementary School, near Highway 36 and I-229, went into lockdown at 8:30 this morning. The lockdown was lifted seven minutes later after police officers arrested a suspect.

St. Joseph Police Captain Jeff Wilson says officers arrived and took into custody a 20-year-old white male, who had ditched the gun.

“We later learned that he did have an air-style BB gun, rifle that he had dropped as he was walking prior to the officers approaching him, but they recovered it,” Wilson tells St. Joseph Post.

The suspect is being held in St. Joseph, pending any charges which might be filed by the Buchanan County Prosecutor’s Office.

No students or staff were ever in any danger, according to St. Joseph School District officials.