Metal detectors were being installed during a lunch break on the first day of hearings on how evolution is taught in Kansas schools.
The Kansas Highway Patrol received information that led them to install the metal detectors. Lt. John Eichkorn, a Highway Patrol spokesman, would not comment on the information they received, whether it was a tip or a threat, and said authorities aren't looking for any suspects.
"We did get some information that led us to more of a concern," Eichkorn said. "It's nothing that's specific ... There wasn't an arrest made and there aren't any individuals that we're specifically looking at."
Just after the hearings broke for lunch, however, security and the armed Highway Patrol officers present at the hearings passed around photos of at least four individuals. The officers would not say who the individuals were or why they were looking for them.
Eichkorn said the patrol had been constantly re-evaluating necessary security measures at the hearings, because of the "nature of the debate." In planning the hearings several weeks ago, officials had discussed installing metal detectors but decided at that time that they were not necessary.
