Shots fired leads to temporary lockdown at San Benito elementary school
Jan. 6—Shots fired about four blocks away from Fred Booth Elementary School in San Benito Thursday morning led to the temporary lockdown at the school.
The school was placed on lockdown shortly after 10 a.m. after San Benito police responded to a call of shots fired at the 400 block of Juarez Street. Fred Booth is located on Zaragoza Street, which is four blocks away.
On its Facebook page Thursday morning, San Benito Consolidated Independent School District wrote, "Fred Booth Elementary has been placed on LOCKDOWN! status — 'Locks, lights, out of sight.'"
"The LOCKDOWN! and SECURE! actions were immediately taken as a precautionary measure. All students and staff are safe, and classroom instruction is ongoing," the post further stated.
The lockdown was lifted at 11:43 a.m.
According to the San Benito Police Department, officers responded to Juarez Street in reference to a person in the alley firing a gun. The individual was in a gray colored vehicle, the department said in a news release.
When officers arrived at the location, they found three men in the alley, and as they approached them, the men ran away. One of them was apprehended, the news release said.
The man apprehended was identified as 30-year-old Luis Vivar of San Benito.
As officers investigated the incident and inspected the gray vehicle, they located two bullet holes in the vehicle, the news release said.
There were no signs that anyone had been injured, and the fired weapon was not recovered.
Although the officers searched for the two men who fled on foot, they were unable to locate them, the news release said, and as a precaution it was requested that Fred Booth be placed on lockdown.
A records check on Vivar revealed he has two outstanding warrants with the Cameron County Sheriff's Department, charging him with tampering with evidence and possession of a controlled substance.
The case remains under investigation, the news release said, and urged anyone with information on the incident to call the San Benito Police Department at (956) 361-3880.
