EUGENE, Ore. – A tense situation unfolded Thursday afternoon at a local elementary school when a preteen student climbed onto a roof and refused to come down for nearly two hours, according to the Eugene Police Department.
EPD officials said that officers, including crisis negotiators and drone operators, responded after the child made suicidal statements and asked to be shot. Emergency dispatch logs show that police and emergency responders were dispatched shortly before 2 p.m. on Jan. 22 to the Fox Hollow Instructional Center on Mahalo Drive.
Police said that the student accessed multiple rooftops via breezeways, making containment challenging. Officers eventually directed the student to areas where the roof was closer to 10 feet high. The child eventually jumped down and ran into nearby woods. Drones maintained intermittent visual contact, allowing officers to locate the child near Fox Hollow Road, according to police officials. EPD officials said that, despite holding a stick and threatening officers, the child was safely taken into custody after resisting by kicking and spitting…