The gunman is seen near the grade school. OC residents are asking why the immigration agents, the police did not issue a warning

As law enforcement and federal agents searched for an armed man in Fullerton one morning last week, students were arriving at the elementary school around the corner. Center officials said they were unaware of the threat.

They and members of their close-knit community in Orange County — on the brink of recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in nearby Anaheim and school shootings elsewhere — are questioning why the school wasn’t warned.

It was early Thursday morning when the Fullerton Police Department received a shocking call: A man, described as wearing a white shirt, was seen climbing a fence at the Highland Pinetree Apartment Homes with a gun. Police arrived at 6:46 a.m., where they found that agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations were also in pursuit, a department official said.

The search that took place over the next hour caused controversy in the Fullerton community. Residents say that the police opened the gates for federal immigration agents to enter the house, which police officials deny. Instead, Fullerton police say ICE decided to lock down the apartment.

Meanwhile, Woodcrest Elementary School, was preparing for another school day; students began to come to them preschool program at 7 am, 20 minutes of searching for the armed man.

Chad Hammitt, deputy superintendent of the Fullerton School District’s Human Resources Division, said he found out about the presence of immigration agents near the school on social media. He called Fullerton police at 7:14 a.m. to ask what was going on. Thirty minutes later, he got a call.

“They told me the suspect was hanging out and the police were manning the perimeter. I didn’t know he was armed,” said Hammitt. “If we had known, we would have closed the school.”

Hammitt said students continued to be dismissed as he, the principal and an assistant principal stood at the entrances to keep watch. It wasn’t until 9:10 in the morning when teachers, parents and staff learned that the suspect was armed, when Fullerton police sent a report. official statement on their Instagram.

“Why wasn’t the school district notified about the gunman? Why weren’t the parents warned?” said Jody Vallejo, a Fullerton parent and sociology professor at USC. “The children were walking to school, and no one knew about the man who might have been armed nearby.”

Fullerton Police Chief Jon Radus said the station’s public resource officer notified the school district based on information he had at the time.

“We are doing everything we can to communicate with people. We have been looking for an hour with little information about this person,” said Radus. “The police officer may not have had all the information about the suspect when he called, I don’t see why he didn’t tell the district if he knew.”

Back at the school, staff and students were restless. Fullerton parent Laura Manchester received a call from a teacher who told her that teachers were coming into the offices in a panic.

“He told me that the school released the teachers [of teaching duties, bringing in substitute teachers] brought counselors. The workers were crying,” said Manchester. A situation like this “is a very big deal.”

Hammitt confirmed that staff were “shocked” and that parents wanted answers.

“Parents ask us, why didn’t we go to the closing?” Hammitt said. “What is important to me is that we are informed. We will not be able to find children and families who are entering a potentially dangerous situation.”

Residents of the Highland Pinetree complex captured a video of local police escorting immigration agents, which circulated online along with suggestions that Fullerton police were assisting ICE. The allegations were published in a statement to the local newspaper, the Fullerton Observer, by a group calling itself “Concerned Parents of Fullerton.”

“What it appeared to be – clearly and unequivocally – was the Fullerton Police Department assisting ICE,” the statement read. “It likely violated California law, when it failed to protect the property and its children from an armed person.”

The Fullerton Police Department maintains that it does not enforce immigration laws. Police were there, officials said, due to reports of a weapon, which may pose a public safety threat.

“This is a very bad situation for local law enforcement. It’s put us in a difficult situation. …We don’t want people to think we’re working for ICE,” Radus said. “Our response that day had nothing to do with helping ICE and everything to do with finding someone with a gun.”

The Department of Public Safety did not respond to requests for the identity of the suspect and whether ICE forced them to open the apartment gates, as police said.

Radus said Fullerton police are “under no obligation” to assist ICE in locating someone unless there is a public safety risk, which he said is the reason police respond and follow up with agents in the area.

“The police were not involved in the search, and we did not open the ICE gates as people said. We were there to hold the border to protect the area,” said Radus. “What is important to us is the safety of our community.”

Radus emphasized that ICE agents cut the locks on the gates of the Highland Pinetree Apartment Homes, not the police. Residents tell a different story.

Daniela Vazquez arrived at 7:15 in the morning to leave the clothes of her child, who lives with her grandmother, a resident of this area.

“That’s when I saw the gate open, all the unknown cars outside the gate, there were people inside wearing unmarked green vests,” said Vazquez.

At that time, he said, the lock was complete.

Vazquez was about to leave for work when he saw the agents enter with their guns. He followed the police and agents from a distance, filming to document what was happening.

In Vazquez’s video, reviewed by The Times, agents can be seen slowly filming the parking lot, making heart-shaped gestures in response to residents’ cries for them to leave.

“He is terrorizing our community, he is terrorizing our children,” the residents shouted. “You guys are in a private place.”

In another video shared by Vazquez, as an apparently unarmed neighbor stands and shouts, the officer can be seen putting his hand on his gun. Beside him, another policeman is holding a gun.

“When the officers were kicking the agents out,” said Vazquez, “I heard one of the officers tell the officers, ‘Don’t lock the gate again.’ “

Highland Pinetree Apartment Homes management did not respond to questions about the gate lock.

Senate Bill 54, the California Values ​​Act, prohibits local law enforcement agencies from participating in immigration enforcement. The bill, which protected California’s “sanctuary” status, says that, subject to exceptions, local police departments are prohibited from spending money or personnel to investigate immigration enforcement.

“Our goal is to keep the community safe. We work every day to do that,” said Radus. “I’m sorry that the parents didn’t feel they were informed.”

Thursday’s incident, the residents say that they “hurt” the community.

“We want to feel secure,” Manchester said. “We didn’t feel safe that day.”

Fullerton police reported that the suspect with the gun was not found after an hour-long search.