BOE, Learning Center locked down

Alexander Cain
The Union-Recorder

January 12, 2009 10:06 pm

— One person was arrested Monday afternoon after the Milledgeville Police Department and Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call regarding a “man with a stick” having been spotted in the area of the Baldwin County Board of Education office.
Moments later, the man was reported to be in the area of the Early Learning Center, and possibly to have entered the building; however, that information could not be confirmed by press time Monday evening.
Resulting from the calls, the Baldwin County Board of Education building and the Early Learning Center were locked down as a precaution, according to school officials.
Though reports placed the individual around the Early Learning Center, the incident began near Baldwin High School, according to Ken Parker, BCSO patrol commander.
“It happened at Baldwin High School. We’re still in the process of putting all this together,” Parker said via phone interview Monday.
The incident involved a Baldwin High School student, Parker said.
“He ran through the woods and received facial injuries running through the woods. When he was placed into a patrol car, he began beating his head on the cage inside,” Parker stated.
It was not known by press time whether the student was a juvenile or if the stick he was reported to be carrying had been used as a potential weapon.
The suspect also reportedly struggled with BCSO officers as they attempted to place him in a patrol car.
A Milledgeville Police Department patrol vehicle in route to assist the BCSO became stuck in rain-soaked ground on West Campus Drive near the Georgia College & State University Bobcat Village.
According to Deputy Chief Richard Malone with MPD, heat from the patrol car’s manifold caused grass underneath and in front of the vehicle to catch fire.
The Milledgeville Fire Department responded to the scene and was able to extinguish the blaze using a fire extinguisher, Malone said.
A City of Milledgeville truck had to tow the patrol car out of the ground; however, once the car was back on the road it was able to be driven away from the scene.
It was not known at press time what charges if any the suspect with the stick would face or if he had entered any school buildings during his time on foot.

The Union-Recorder reporters Jonathan Jackson and Jessica Luton contributed to this report.

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