Incoherent Man Intrudes On Lake Elsinore Preschoolers

Preschoolers watched as a man hopped a fence onto their Heald Academy campus in Lake Elsinore and then laid down on school grounds and began digging.

The incident was reported at 1:19 p.m. Tuesday, according to Sgt. Lisa McConnell of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

The intrusion prompted an immediate campus lockdown and 911 was called, confirmed Lake Elsinore Unified School District spokesman Mark Dennis. Children who were outdoors on school grounds were quickly ushered into classrooms, he said.

The campus is fully fenced and gated, Dennis said.

According to reports Dennis said he received from school officials, the man did appear to be under the influence and/or disoriented.

“He did not respond in normal ways,” Dennis said of the reports he received.

None of the Heald students were harmed during the incident, Dennis confirmed.

The man only seemed interested in the area that he landed on once he hopped the fence, Dennis said of the reports he received.

McConnell confirmed that the Hispanic man in his 30s was observed “digging and lying on the ground.” He was apprehended and transported by ground ambulance for a mental health evaluation, but he was not arrested and his identity has not been released, she said.

Three LEUSD administrators drove to the Heald campus as soon as they received word of the situation, Dennis said.

Letters were sent home with children Tuesday afternoon to notify Heald parents of the situation; children who attend morning classes were also sent home with parent notification letters the next day, Dennis said.

The district’s reverse dialer system was not used to notify parents via telephone, Dennis confirmed. He said district and Heald officials have been evaluating Tuesday’s situation to analyze what can be done to prevent a recurrence.

In October, a man believed to the same one from Tuesday’s incident was spotted peering at Heald students through a fence, Dennis confirmed. A lockdown was initiated and 911 was called, he said.

“We let law enforcement deal with that situation,” he said. “The man was not on campus.”