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By Susannah Rosenblatt
The Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES — Police called off a search today for a masked male hours after he wielded what appeared to be a gun in the office of a Van Nuys school and then fled the scene.
Van Nuys Elementary School in the 6400 block of Sylmar Ave. was locked down for much of the day, but the afternoon dismissal was expected to proceed as normal, school officials said.
The suspect walked into the main office of the school about 8:15 a.m. wearing a black ski mask and carrying what witnesses said looked like a semiautomatic handgun, police said.
The suspect fired no shots and quickly fled on foot, according to Los Angeles Police Sgt. Steven Gottschalk of the Van Nuys Division. No one was injured.
Police originally described the male as a juvenile, but later said they were unsure of his age because his face was covered.
The suspect at first was believed to have fled to a school at Community Bible Church of Van Nuys, around the corner in the 14300 block of Hamlin Street, according to police. Police officials said later that while the church was in the perimeter they had set up, it was unclear exactly where the male had gone.
At Van Nuys Elementary, staff reported that the masked person waved his arms but said nothing, according to Monica Carazo, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Unified School District. He left quickly, she said.
The Van Nuys campus was immediately locked down, said LAPD Sgt. A. Kreitzman.
Carazo said the lockdown barred students from leaving their classrooms and also prevented people — including parents — from entering the school. One school police officer will remain at Van Nuys Elementary for the rest of the week, Carazo said.
The school teaches first through fifth grades.
The suspect was described as about 5 feet tall and wearing a gray hooded sweat shirt and blue jeans, said Sgt. Aaron Pisarzewicz of the Los Angeles School Police Department.
Copyright 2008 The Los Angeles Times