SPARKS — Children at two Sparks schools were quickly shuffled inside Thursday morning where some waited more than an hour in a code yellow lock down.

Outside, Sparks police were searching for a man who witnesses said threatened to shoot an officer before threatening to kill himself.

According to Sparks Police Department spokesman Detective Rocky Triplett, Moniz Moreno was taken into custody at about 9:30 a.m. on charges of discharging a firearm in the city limits and possession of drug paraphernalia. Police found him with a woman at the Motel 6 on Victorian Avenue.

The officers called Moreno and he came out of the motel room without the weapon.  He told officers that there was a handgun inside the room.  A female also came out of the room who confirmed that there was gun inside the room.  Officers cleared the room of other suspects and located a revolver between one of the mattresses and a pipe that was used to smoke methampetamine.  Moreno was taken into custody for the meth pipe.  The female later took officers to her residence in the 1600 block of the G/H Alley.  Officers located evidence that showed Moreno had discharged the revolver in the living room. 

The schools were put on code yellow lock down at about 8:30 a.m. when police reported hearing that a suicidal man with a gun was lose in the area.

“A code yellow happens where there is an danger in the surrounding area versus inside the school, we bring all the kids inside,” Sparks High School Principal Doug Parry said.

School police officer Tracy Moore added that a code yellow is not uncommon.

“It is a common form of school safety measure that we take,” Moore said. “If a house is on fire or the bank a few blocks away gets robbed … we may use it.”

According to Parry, Sparks High has experienced about three code yellow lock downs and one code red in the past year.

Neighboring elementary school, Robert Mitchell, was also locked down until police gave the all clear at about 9:30 a.m.

“I am very pleased with the way we responded,” said principal Eileen Roundtree. “They did just like we practiced.”

The school district employs an emergency plan at each school, dictating who has what responsibility in the case of a code yellow.

According to Roundtree, the students were shuffled off of the playground and roll was taken in each classroom to account for all students.

Sparks High School took a similar approach.

“With the safety of our staff and students, we err on the side of caution,” Parry said.