About 5 p.m. Thursday, law enforcement officers concluded a manhunt that lasted much of the day.

Secret Service agents questioned Melvin Maples on Thursday regarding one of their protectees, according to Major Andy Shock of the Faulkner County Sheriff's Office. Maples allegedly told the agents he had a gun and would kill them. He reportedly ran away and hid in the woods.

Mount Vernon-Enola School was locked down, and police formed a half-mile by three-fourths mile perimeter from Highway 107 to Highway 310 intersecting with Jim Hackler Lane, Shock said. The sheriff's office, Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team and local police departments all joined in the manhunt for several hours.

About 3:30 p.m., "We did a tactical retreat," Shock said. "We pulled out, but we didn't pull everyone out. He came up to the house, just like we anticipated he would."

Shock said an investigation revealed Maples "was not violent, only mentally unstable. He had no friends in the area, and no cell phone, and so the only logical conclusion would be to return home."

"With all the cops gone and the helicopter gone, he came back," Shock said. Shock added there was still a police presence in the area, but "it was more of a passive presence than a manhunt. We wanted him to get comfortable and come home, and that's what happened."

Maples lives with his mother on Highway 310, Shock said. 

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