Bayfield School District campuses were under a brief lockout Tuesday after two people who felt threatened by a woman with firearms in a house in the 700 block of Fox Farm Circle alerted authorities.
The incident occurred just as students were arriving at the district’s primary and elementary school, which are only yards away from Fox Farm Circle.
Personnel from the Bayfield Marshal’s Office and the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office had a house cordoned off.
They finally talked the woman, an intoxicated Margaret Wilson, 58, out of the house where she was arrested without incident, Marshal Joseph McIntyre said in a statement.
Inside the house, officers found two handguns, three rifles and a shotgun, McIntyre said.
Questioning revealed that Wilson had threatened her son, Michael Wilson, and a woman who was not identified, with personal harm, McIntyre said.
Michael Wilson, 18, was arrested on a misdemeanor warrant for failure to appear in court.
Margaret Wilson, who refused a Breathalyzer test, was taken to Mercy Regional Medical Center for examination. Once at La Plata County jail, she claimed a medical emergency and had to be returned to Mercy.
The schools were in no immediate danger, McIntyre said.
The school lockouts were over by the time the district alerted parents by text, email and voicemail messages, district Superintendent Troy Zabel said.
“Our first concern was to make sure everyone was safe,” Zabel said. “It was just as students were arriving.”
All five district buildings, including the administrative office, were under lockout, Zabel said.
The message sent said: “At the start of school today, Feb. 10, 2015, we placed all our school campuses in lockout due to a law-enforcement issue in the community, The incident was not on one of our school campuses, but Bayfield School District takes the safety of our school community as its number one priority. We placed each of our facilities on lockout for approximately 20 minutes until the incident was resolved by our law enforcement, and we were notified by dispatch that we were clear for business as normal.”
Road closures were lifted at the same time as the lockout.
daler@durangoherald.com
