Chaffee Zoo locked down for two hours following threat involving employee, police say

The Fresno Chaffee Zoo was placed on lockdown Monday after police said there was a potential threat involving a zoo employee.

Police got a call around 11 a.m. about a disturbance at a home in the 2200 block of West Indianapolis Avenue where a father said his 22-year-old son had left with a firearm, Lt. Mark Hudson said. The man had called in sick to his job at the zoo a couple hours before that.

Police then contacted the zoo, which put itself on lockdown for about two hours, from 11:15 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., spokeswoman Ciara Castallanos said. Guests were allowed to leave the zoo, but no one was allowed to enter.

Zoo officials were not naming the employee, she said.

The man was not arrested and police said they don’t believe a crime occurred.

This story was originally published July 16, 2018 at 2:32 PM.