A suspect has been taken into custody in relation to a firearm incident at an area school that resulted in the school being placed under lockdown earlier this week.

As reported in the May 14 edition of the Seminole Producer, Bowlegs School was placed under lockdown Thursday over a possible gun threat. Seminole Public Schools was briefly placed on “soft” lockdown during the incident as a precaution.

Michael Coffee, 43, of Seminole was arrested Thursday by the Seminole Nation Lighthorse Police Department on complaints of carrying/possessing a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a weapon on school property.

Late Thursday evening, the Seminole County Sheriff’s Department released the following statement:

“Today (Thursday) around 12:30 the Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to Bowlegs School after it was reported that a male who appeared to be intoxicated was at the school with a gun.

Within minutes the Sheriff’s Office, Seminole Nation Lighthorse Police, and officers of the Seminole Police Department arrived on scene. Law Enforcement Officers learned that the male was in the principal’s office and he was no longer armed. Chief Dee Deathrage and Investigator Brittany Hale of the Seminole Nation Tribal Police Department took the male into custody.

The male subject identi fied as Michael Coffee is a Cherokee Indian so Seminole Nation Tribal Courts will have criminal jurisdiction. We thank the school staff for their prompt response and the procedures they have in place that worked flawlessly to protect the children.

There were no injuries today and Michael Coffee is currently being housed at the Seminole County Jail.”

According to court records, Coffee was charged in 2009 with a felony count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.