A man was arrested Wednesday after officers found him armed with a gun and hiding behind a wall at a high school in the North Texas town of Paradise, officials say.
A witness called 911 about 4 p.m. to report a man carrying a rifle and walking across the Paradise Independent School District high school campus, Wise County Sheriff Lane Akin said in a news release.
State troopers arrived within five minutes, but the man had disappeared.
Band members, student athletes and others were on campus. The school was placed on lock down and later evacuated.
Officers noticed a ceiling tile at the high school appeared to have been disturbed and began searching the ceiling crawl space.
The man, identified as 59-year-old Elvin Ray Fox, was found wedged between two concrete block walls, Akin said. Officers used power tools to extricate him.
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Fox, who lives nearby, was taken into custody on a mental health detention order.
Fox has a long criminal record, including drug possession, aggravated assault, deadly conduct, and resisting arrest.
Authorities were preparing new charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and felon in possession of a firearm, the sheriff said.