A report of a possible armed man in Thermal Tuesday triggered a sheriff’s department search that lasted about five hours and included the precautionary lockdown of nearby John Kelley Elementary School, but deputies ultimately were unable to locate a suspect.
A report came in around 11 a.m. that a possibly armed man was spotted in the area of Airport Boulevard and Polk Street. Deputies utilized police dogs and a SWAT team in the search, which was concentrated primarily in a “brush- filled dirt lot,” according to the sheriff’s department.
Deputies advised the general public to avoid the area and closed the sheriff’s Thermal station at 86625 Airport Blvd during the search operation.
John Kelley Elementary is just south of the search area.
Around 4 p.m., deputies said the search was being called off with the suspect nowhere to be found in the dirt field or the surrounding area.
