Long Beach City College’s Pacific Coast Campus went on lockdown because a film professor was carrying a prop gun across campus for a film shoot.
Film professor Elias Daughdrill told the Viking News in an interview that he had the prop gun for a film shoot of a scene that included actors as officers.
“I emailed the guys at the theater department, ‘You guys have a prop gun and like a police badge that students can use for the scene’ and they said ‘ Sure, see we what we got’ and so I walked over there and stupidly didn’t bring like a bag or something,” Daughdrill said.
“I wasn’t even thinking that I was going to bring it back because we were not shooting until like three more weeks and they said ‘Here take it now.’”
Daughdrill was walking from FF building to EE building with the prop gun.
“Halfway through it dawned on me now this is dumb I should have this in a something like a bag or whatever, but didn’t,” Daughdrill said.
“Nothing happened for 10 or 15 minutes and then I got a phone call from Tony Carreiro in theater, faculty member, and so I step outside the classroom and I see police officers and I said ‘I know what this is about.'”
According to Daughdrill, his class was in session, but after the incident he continued class.
Daughdrill was not arrested because there was no apparent threat on campus.
Superintendent-President Reagan Romali sent out an Emergency Alert Follow up email.
In the email, Romali made a brief letter about the situation that unfolded today, and how the LBPD found a replica firearm that was being used in a class production.
“We are extremely grateful for the incredibly quick response from the Long Beach Police Department,” Romali said.
“Upon investigation they found out it was an instructor and a student who had a prop gun for a film in theater class.”
Officer Kevin Stenson, who was at PCC during the incident, heard different information about the suspect.
“There was never a shooter or a possible shooter, what we have is a student that was in an acting class and they had some sort of assignment going on and I guess they needed a prop weapon and it was seen by other students,” Stenson said.
Text alerts went out to students, faculty, and staff as well as emails regarding what was going on at PCC and an all clear was sent out at 11 a.m.