SANTA CLARA – An intermediate school was placed on lockout Tuesday afternoon after a man with a knife was reported nearby.

The incident occurred after 1 p.m. near Lava Ridge Intermediate School in Santa Clara. A resident called police and reported seeing a man with the knife near their home. Because the incident was close to the school, it triggered precautionary measures.

“We had a (person) call and said they saw a man with a knife that went into a field adjacent to her home and she notified police,” school resource officer John Ward said. “It was in close proximity to Lava Ridge so we decided to do a lockout until we could locate the suspect.”

A school going into “lockout” is different from a “lockdown,” Ward said.

In a lockout, access to the school is locked off and no one can enter or leave the school, while classes and activities remain the same inside. School work continues, although if students need to move from one room to another, they must first ask the principal for permission.

A lockout is generally done in response to a potential threat from the outside, while a lockdown deals with a threat that may already be in the building.

In a lockdown, the classrooms within the school are locked. Students and teachers stay in their rooms and keep quiet while also staying away from the windows.

Ward and other Santa Clara-Ivins Police officers searched the field and eventually found the man with a knife.

The man was not acting normally and appeared to be “having a bad day,” Ward said. “We were able to apprehend him, converse with him and get him to put down the weapon,” he said.

The man was taken to Dixie Regional Medical Center for examination and a mental evaluation. No arrest was made at the time.

The lockout at Lava Ridge Intermediate was terminated once the incident was resolved.

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