Students and staff at Riverside City College were told to shelter in place Tuesday morning after a person with a knife was chased off the campus by police, according to authorities.
The community college issued a campuswide alert shortly after 9:30 a.m. for students and staff to shelter in place. The college said the incident took place near the football field and reaffirmed the lockdown was still in effect in a later social media post.
Riverside City Police Officer Ryan Railsback said campus police received reports of a person armed with a knife and chased the suspect off campus and into a nearby drainage canal that borders the college.
Police are trying to persuade the suspect to come out of the drainage canal and surrender, Railsback said, adding that the suspect is isolated from the college campus and other nearby schools.
Riverside City College police did not immediately respond to request for information. Sgt. Deirdre Vickers, a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson, said deputies were on their way to provide assistance to the campus police.