The case originally involved the report of a man who was said to have entered a neighbor's home on Meadow Drive shortly before 1 p.m., as Lake County News has reported.
Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office said the suspect had allegedly attempted to rob the home owner, who had a friend call authorities to report the incident.
Bauman said nothing was taken from the victim’s home and he was not injured.
While deputies were still responding to the scene they received another report that a second man had been seen on foot in the area and was possibly involved in the robbery attempt, Bauman said.
He said both the alleged suspects had been reported leaving the area on foot in opposite directions.
The man with the gun was described by officials as a dark skinned male in his 30s with short, corn-rowed hair and a goatee, as tall as 5 feet, 9 inches and weighing 180 to 200 pounds, and wearing a black jacket, black boots, and tan carpenter type pants.
Bauman said the man was in possession of what may have been a .25-caliber handgun that he reportedly kept in his right jacket pocket as he left the scene.
The second man said to have been involved had a less detailed description; Bauman said he was only described as having a dark complexion, wearing a baseball cap and carrying a back pack.
The first suspect was reportedly seen on Highway 175 near Cobb Mountain Elementary School, which is less than a mile from the Meadow Drive location, according to a map of the area. Bauman said the man was spotted taking one of the trails into the woods behind the school.
Bauman told Lake County News earlier Wednesday afternoon that the man was spotted near the school shortly after 1 p.m., just as the children were about to be loaded onto school buses.
But he said the sheriff's office was able to notify the school in time to keep the children there at the locked facility while deputies arrived, secured the school and set up a search perimeter for the suspect.
Middletown Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Korby Olson said the district sent out phone messages to parents to let them know the situation. The school also released children directly to their parents while the lockdown was in place.
Danielle Huck, who was expecting to pick up her son from school at 1:10 p.m., said her daughter had just gotten home from school in Middletown and heard the situation unfolding on a police scanner. Huck then attempted to call the school, with only the message machine picking up.
A short time later she got the phone call from the school telling her of the lockdown, and about 10 minutes after that another call informed her that the children were being put on buses home.
By about 2:20 pm, the school was able safely release all students to their families, Bauman said.
Meanwhile, during the search that ran into the late afternoon – lasting about two hours – the sheriff's office sent multiple units, along with Major Crimes Unit detectives and a K-9 team, to search for the suspects, said Bauman.
The California Highway Patrol also helped patrol the area; Roger Kinney, a Cobb resident and Lake County News contributor, said both sheriff's and CHP cars were slowly driving around the area.
Kinney had reported winter weather conditions around Cobb throughout the day Wednesday, including snow, rain and hail.
Those weather conditions led to the cancellation of a CHP helicopter that Bauman said had been requested to assist with the search.
Despite the extensive search of the area, Bauman said neither of the two suspects were located Wednesday.
However, a backpack similar to the one seen with the second man was later found near the Hardester’s Store and recovered by authorities, Bauman said.
Bauman said the investigation is continuing.
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