An Indiana man now faces charges of disorderly conduct after an incident at a school bus stop on Friday morning.
State police say they were notified at 7:51 AM on Friday about the incident that happened at the stop at East Pike Road and Gorman Avenue. A 17-year-old Senior High School student was approached by the suspect, later identified as 38-year-old Michael Richard Rifendifer of Indiana, who had in his hand what the student thought was a pistol. Rifendifer allegedly asked the student if he thought the gun was real. The student told Rifendifer to stay away and that the bus was coming. Rifendifer allegedly left the area, ditching the gun nearby. Police say they think that Rifendifer did not point the gun at anyone at anytime, nor made any threats to anyone.
When the student got to school, he reported the incident to the school and his parents. State police were called out and the district decided that because of the proximity to East Pike, a lockdown would be put in place as the students arrived. While state police were at the school, getting a description of the suspect, a trooper responding to the scene found a bb-gun replica of a black Smith and Wesson .45 caliber pistol on the front porch of Rifendifer’s home. Shortly after that, Rifendifer was spotted walking along the 600 block of Philadelphia Street, and he was taken into custody at 8:36 AM.
Rifendifer was charged with disorderly conduct and released from custody. A non-traffic citation was filed with District Judge Suzanne Steffe’s office.
In a statement, Indiana School District Superintendent Michael Vukovich said that they were proud of the calm and professional way the staff handled the situation, and thanked the State and local police departments for their work on the case. Both the police and the district also thanked the student for reporting the incident.
