Man with gun arrested in Maple Creek area
At approximately 11:10 am deputies notified the school staff that the suspect was determined not to be in the immediate area, and the lockdown was released. Officers remained in the area of the school as a precaution while deputies expanded their search. At approximately 1:00 p.m. deputies located a suspect matching the description given along logging road approximately, one mile behind Maple Creek School. When deputies saw the suspect he was lying down on the ground on top of a loaded assault weapon. Deputies arrested the suspect without further incident. The suspect had a loaded AK-47 type of assault weapon. Deputies learned that the suspect, Melvin Louis Coffer, 25 years of McKinleyville, was on felony probation with a prohibition from owning or possessing a firearm. Coffer was arrested and booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, violation of probation and trespass. His bail was set at $50,000.00.