Armed subject detained near Atascadero Middle School

A subject was detained near Atascadero Middle School and taken for a mental health evaluation Thursday afternoon after reports that the person was armed with a machete.

At around noon, Atascadero police received multiple reports of a man walking around downtown while swinging a machete.

Officers were able to locate the subject near Atascadero Middle School. Officers confronted the subject and were eventually able to convince the subject to comply with their verbal commands.

The subject was detained and transported to San Luis Obispo Mental Health Services for evaluation. The person’s name, age and gender are unclear at this time.

As a precaution, both the Atascadero Middle School and Atascadero Fine Arts Academy were briefly placed on lock down during the incident.

Atascadero City Police Department said the incident was resolved quickly and the schools resumed normal activities.