Buckeye police brief Liberty Elementary board on April 23 campus firearm report

Buckeye Police Chief Robert Robert Sanders told the Liberty Elementary School District Governing Board on April 28 that officers responded after a 911 call near the time students were being released on April 23 and detained one adult who was walking away from the area.

Sanders said the initial call arrived about 3:49 p.m., and that officers were on scene within minutes. "By the time we arrived on scene, kids, parents, everybody was already in the parking lot. It was very chaotic," he said. Sanders said several callers provided conflicting information about whether the person had pointed a gun; officers detained the individual after stopping him as he walked away and later booked the adult; the person was released on their own recognizance a few hours later. Sanders said the department participates in regional standard response protocols with nearby districts and law enforcement agencies.

The chief told the board that dispatch was handling multiple incidents at the same time and that officers who were nearby responded. He said a total of six officers, two sergeants and the chief were on scene. Sanders also said there was no clear evidence the gun was drawn or pointed at anyone: "No, sir. Always in his... waistband," he said when asked whether the weapon had been taken out of a holster.

Board members asked whether the school needed police permission to call a lockdown; Sanders said the school makes that decision and that, in this case, by the time officers had detained the person the school had already released students and parents were in the parking lot. Sanders said if officers had still been searching for a suspect, the response and the decision about a lockdown would have been handled differently.

Board members and Sanders discussed communications during the incident. Sanders said dispatch lines were busy and officers were receiving multiple streams of information; he said police did not have direct contact with school staff before officers arrived because phone lines were congested. He also told the board the department could not identify who on campus knew about the incident from the department's records and social-media posts complicated the information flow.

The chief closed by saying he had no immediate recommendations for changing the district's response based on the timing of the dismissal and the arrival of officers.