TEMECULA - A man who fled from deputies conducting an investigation in a Temecula neighborhood, prompting the lockdown of a nearby elementary school, remained at large today.

Deputies went to the 41200 block of Essex Street around 2:40 p.m. Monday in response to a request for assistance by an allied agency that was conducting an investigation at a residence, said Riverside County Sheriff's Lt. Matthew Aveling. He neither named the allied agency or disclose the nature of its investigation.

Several people had fled the location, but deputies set up a perimeter and apprehended all but one of them, Aveling said.

"The final suspect fled the location reportedly in possession of a firearm into a residential housing tract near Camino Del Este and La Serena (Way)," he said. Advertisement

[ Pala Mesa Resort ] "Due to the proximity of the incident to Rancho Elementary School, officers along with school administrators initiated school lockdown procedures for the safety of attending children."

As a sheriff's helicopter hovered overhead, deputies and school resource officers backed up by a K-9 unit searched houses, backyards, garages and vehicles, but the gunman eluded them.

"The school was under lockdown procedures for a little over one hour and resumed normal activities around 3:55 p.m.," Aveling said.

The man being sought is white, in his mid-20s, about 5 feet 10, clean- shaven, with short blond hair and tattoos on his chest. He was wearing a light gray jacket, long black shorts and white sneakers.

Anyone with information about the suspect was asked to contact the sheriff's department at (951) 696-3000.