A masked man with a gun threatened a group of children playing outside Gage Elementary School early this morning, at one point catching two kids and ordering them to sit down, according to police.
The man fled as officers arrived at the scene. With the help of a police dog, they later found a paintball gun and a mask along a fence line, said Capt. Brian Winters.
A possible suspect was located two to three blocks from Gage. He was interviewed and released for lack of immediately available evidence, Winters said. But more interviews are expected today.
The four kids, ages 12 to 18, were playing behind the school shortly after midnight. They spotted a masked man watching them from the edge of a tree line, Winters said.
The kids ran when the man approached them carrying a gun. Three of them knocked on the door of a nearby house and were let inside to call police. Two others were caught by the man with the gun just off of school property. He pointed a gun at them and told them to sit down.
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Police arrived and the kids ran toward the squad car as the suspect fled, Winters said.
"What his (the suspect's) intentions were, we don't really know," Winters said.
Police are certain the incident was not linked to a recent attempted abduction of a 10-year-girl. Police released a composite drawing of a possible suspect in the Aug. 13 abduction attempt on Tuesday. The two suspects do not look alike.
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