(September 4, 2008)—Two Waco men were in custody late Thursday afternoon and police were looking for a third suspect after an exchange of gunfire at a house that led to a lockdown at nearby West Elementary School where one of the gunmen evidently attempted to seek refuge.
It happened just before noon in the 1600 block of West Avenue, where police say two men had gone in an attempt to recover a television that was taken in a burglary on Wednesday.
The girlfriend of one of the two men lived in a house at 1607 West Ave., police said, and the men thought she had information about the whereabouts of the TV.
But when the men kicked down the front door of the house, they were confronted by the woman’s boyfriend.
Witnesses told officers that the two men had pistols and that they had fired in the direction of the house.
The boyfriend, who was not identified, returned fire, striking one of the men.
The other man fled toward the elementary school, where staff members had heard the gunshot and had moved children off the playground and into the building, which was immediately locked down.
The man tried to get into the school, police said, but couldn’t because all of the doors were locked.
Officers arrested Rufus Atkison, 27, at the rear of the school, police said.
Simeen Jefferson, 29, of Waco was arrested after he was treated at Providence Health Center for a gunshot wound.
Atkison was charged with deadly conduct, police said, and was also wanted on unrelated child support warrants.
Jefferson was charged with criminal trespassing and deadly conduct.
Police were still looking late Wednesday afternoon for the man who was in the house.
The school was locked down for about an hour.
Some parents who heard about the incident and arrived to pick up their children were forced to wait until the lockdown ended.
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