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Photo by Bob Pennell Ashland police cited and released Brian Carlton Tucker Friday after he was seen walking around town with an unloaded BB gun. Man with BB gun strikes fear in residents BY JIM DAVIS ASHLAND -- A police helicopter flew through the air. Patrol cars cruised with lights flashing. A television cameraman ran to the scene. All for a man in a black jacket carrying an unloaded BB gun. Brian Carlton Tucker, 22, of Ashland, was cited and released for disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. Just three days after the worst school shooting in the country's history, Tucker raised fears throughout town Friday afternoon when he was reported to be walking with a rifle to Ashland Middle School. "You can imagine when we heard the description the thoughts that were running through our minds," said Ashland Police Chief Scott Fleuter. The scare began about 3:21 p.m. Friday when a man stopped by the Ashland police station and reported a gunman in a black trenchcoat was heading to the school, eerily similar to the two killers in the Littleton, Colo., shooting on Tuesday. Several officers -- including Fleuter -- rushed to the scene, a couple of blocks away from the police station. They found the school buses had already left, but there were dozens of students still around. Officers and teachers locked students away in classrooms and herded some of the kids into fields across from the school. Officers also shut down Walker Street. Students Hillary Davis and Kali Fieger, both 12, were serving detention Friday when the assistant principal got a call on his walkie-talkie. "He ran out and he told us not to go anywhere or open the door for anyone," Hillary said. Police searched the school and the surrounding area and mobilized the city's helicopter in the search effort. Meanwhile, three other people called police, reporting the man in the gun. Officers stopped a man in a black trenchcoat who was carrying a cane. About 4:45 p.m., Tucker -- still carrying the BB gun -- walked by The Beanery at Walker and Ashland street. Matt Russell, a Southern Oregon University student, saw Tucker and flagged down police. "We were sitting here and the cops were circling the block," Russell said. "Then that guy just walked by us with the rifle." "He was carrying it like it was broom or a rake," said Leah Harkins, who works at The Beanery. Officers jumped out of their cruisers and told Tucker to drop the weapon and get on the ground. Tucker, who was wearing a black leather jacket, dropped the gun and sprawled on the ground. Officers spoke with him and then took him into custody. An hour later, Ashland police held a harried news conference in Ashland council chambers with nearly a dozen reporters and cameramen, most trying to do a live story on the situation. Fleuter confirmed that Tucker was carrying a BB gun, and also said Tucker apparently never walked on school grounds. Fleuter explained that it was legal to carry a BB gun in public, but Tucker caused general panic and was cited with the misdemeanor. He said that Tucker would be cited and released, because the man has a physical ailment. Police said they did not consider him a threat. Fleuter said that police reacted so strongly due to the tragedy in Littleton. He didn't know why Tucker was wandering the streets of Ashland with what appeared to be a rifle. "I have no idea what was going through his mind," Fleuter said. "At this point, we can only speculate." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA