WISE COUNTY (KRLD) - A man with a gun was arrested Wednesday afternoon at Paradise High School in Wise County. The Wise County Sheriff's Office says someone called 911 about 4 p.m. Thursday to report a man walking across the Paradise High School campus "carrying a rifle."
Paradise High School has been hosting "Welcome Week," but classes have not started. The superintendent of Paradise ISD says student-athletes were at the school Thursday afternoon for workouts and practice.
Wise County deputies and DPS troopers responded to the call. They did not find anyone with a gun, so they started looking at surveillance video.
The video did show someone with a gun. The school was placed on lockdown and then evacuated.
"Our first responders were incredible," says Superintendent Paul Uttley. "All those agencies working together was mind-blowing to me. They were working cooperatively together and collaboratively together. They were able to bring the situation to a wonderful resolution, as positive as it could be."
Deputies and state troopers searched the school and found a ceiling tile had been moved. They started looking through a crawlspace and found the man wedged between two walls.
They had to use a power drill to reach the man. Elvin Ray Fox, 59, was taken for a mental health evaluation. He will then be charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and felon in possession of a firearm.
The Wise County Sheriff's Office says Fox has a criminal record that includes another aggravated assault, drug possession and resisting arrest.
