Man with loaded gun tried to get into Derby elementary school multiple times: officials

A 35-year-old man was arrested after he tried to enter a Derby elementary school Tuesday morning while carrying a loaded handgun, Derby police chief Robert Lee said.

The incident happened before the start of the school day at Stone Creek Elementary. The man tried to enter the building through multiple doors, Derby School District Superintendent Heather Bohaty said.

Records do not show that the man had a child in the district, Bohaty said.

“At this point, we do not have a firm connection between him and the school.” Lee said. “That’s one of the things we are going to be looking out to see if there is a connection at all.”

The man first tried the front doors, which were locked. He then walked over to the cafeteria entrance, where a school employee with the latchkey program told him to go back to the front entrance. That was still locked.

The man then walked back to his car and got in. He was in there for a “period of time” before children started to arrive at the school. A parent dropping off a child noticed what appeared to be a “medical concern” with the man, Bohaty said.

A principal and the staff nurse went out to the parking lot to check on the man and called 911 after he appeared to be unconscious. The school went into lockdown after the 911 call was made, Bohaty said.

Derby police found a 9mm handgun on the man’s waistband and think he could have been under the influence. It is unknown what he might have taken, Lee said.

The Latham, Kansas man was booked on suspicion of a felon possessing a firearm, having a firearm on school property, drug paraphernalia and an outstanding warrant, Lee said at a Tuesday afternoon news conference.

Lee said the warrant is from another county. He didn’t know what it was for. Police have not released the name of the man. Police are also looking into who owns the car.