Man who prompted Dolores lock down in custody

Finocchiaro

A man who provoked the lockdown of the Dolores Re-4A school has been apprehended without incident in Dolores.

The school campus had been on lockdown since late this morning in response to a report of an armed man seen nearby.

According to a report from the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office, law enforcement personnel were seeking John Finocchiaro, 30, who reportedly had been seen near Dolores High School. The sheriff’s office had issued a warning about Finocchiaro on its Facebook page Thursday evening.

“For the last couple of days, we’ve been all over Dolores looking for this suspect,” said Lt. Det. Ted Meador of the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office.

Meador said a call was received that the suspect was seen on the Dolores High School campus around 10:40 a.m.

There was no reports of gunshots at the school; the lockdown was a precautionary measure.

“No one was ever in any danger,” Meador said.

Taken into custody without incident, Finocchiaro was wanted on a department of corrections warrant for parole violation stemming from an assault conviction.

On the sheriff’s Facebook page, Finocchiaro was said to be armed with a .25 caliber automatic handgun and was considered a threat to law enforcement. He is heavily tattooed and usually wears a baseball cap backward.

Parents of students in Re-4A schools received reverse 911 calls at 11:23, stating the lockdown had been instituted at 11:20.

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