http://www.middletownjournal.com/news/middletown-news/police-say-ar...

MIDDLETOWN — Middletown police still do no know exactly who the armed man was who visited Mayfield Elementary School Tuesday showing a Homeland Security badge, but they now believe he and another agent did have legitimate business in the city.

“Could they have handled it better? Absolutely,” said Sgt. Jim Cunningham. But he noted after talking with a city resident, police are sure the man and another who visited a home on Euclid Court were with Homeland Security.

Cunningham said no one has contacted police to say which agency the men represented and inquiries by police have turned up nothing.

“At this point I don’t think anyone is going to ‘fess up’,” Cunningham said.

State Homeland Security is now a part of the Ohio Department of Public Safety and includes a number of agencies including ICE and the FBI, according to Lindsey Bohrer, spokeswoman for the department of public safety.

Bohrer said Friday, Nov. 13, “we know it wasn’t any of our guys (Ohio Homeland Security agents).”

Marla Marsh, principal at the Burbank Avenue school, contacted police about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday about a suspicious person with a gun at the school, according to the police report.

Marsh said the man told her he was with Homeland Security and showed a photograph identification. The man asked the principal if Euclid Street was part of her attendance area, Marsh answered “no,” and the man left, she said.

Marsh said the man got into a Chevrolet Malibu with tinted windows and headed north. The man, who had a gun holstered on his side, was described as white and wearing a white T-shirt with blue print on it, jeans and a baseball cap.

Prior to the man’s visit at the school, police received a call from Euclid Court resident Christopher Hall, who said a man came to his home and asked if he recognized a photograph of an Hispanic male with the word “wanted” on the photo. Hall told police the man, who he described as Asian, had a Homeland Security badge around his neck.

Middletown police issued a bulletin to area police agencies to be on the lookout for the individual who visited the area to determine if his business and intent were legitimate.

That bulletin resulted in a lockdown of Edgewood schools and heightened security measures at Madison, Monroe and Lakota schools.