PARIS – A report, later deemed unfounded, of a man with a gun in Oxford County Superior Court on Friday morning cleared the room of the judge, lawyers and court officials, but left three prisoners, a corrections officer and six others behind.

Paris police Sgt. Michael B. Dailey said Charles J. Riggs, 55, of Rumford made the report. He said Riggs was in the courtroom with his wife, Laura A. Riggs, 50, a plaintiff in a civil suit. After Judge Ellen Gorman ruled on the suit between Laura Riggs and the defendant, the couple and the defendant left the courtroom.

Riggs notified court officer Dick Cloutier, Dailey said, that the defendant in the suit involving his wife had a 9 mm Taurus handgun during the proceeding.

The court has no metal detectors and no signs prohibiting weapons in the courtroom, although police say it is state court policy not to allow them.

The Sun Journal is not naming the man Riggs said had the gun because the police deemed the complaint unfounded.

Cloutier notified county police, and the Oxford County Regional Communications Center advised Dailey there was a man in the second-floor courtroom with a gun, he said. Dailey said he was unclear about which agency should handle the call, his, the Sheriff’s Department or state police. He said he was asked to meet with Riggs, who was making the complaint.

Meanwhile, Cloutier went back into the courtroom and spoke to the judge, who rushed out to her chambers. She had been conducting a sentencing hearing until the interruption.

At least four lawyers, including defense attorney Leonard Sharon and Assistant District Attorney Richard Beauchesne, and three court officials went to the judge’s chamber a short time later. Two others with the DA went to another room.

Left behind were a man at the defense table, two prisoners and a corrections officer, and four others.

Dailey said when he arrived in the communication center parking lot next to the courthouse on Western Avenue, he met the Riggses.

Riggs said, “The weapon was enclosed in a nylon holster, and … the holster had a cover on it which completely concealed the weapon,” Dailey stated in his report. The man kept the holster pack on his lap during the proceedings, but when he took the stand to testify, he brought the holster with him, set it down and covered it with a ball cap, Riggs said, according to the police report.

Dailey said when he asked Riggs why he believed the pack contained a gun, Riggs “said he was an ex-Marine and could identify weapons.” Riggs “also stated that he heard the indisputable clunk’ of the weapon when he put the pack down,” Dailey said.

Dailey concluded that based on Charles Riggs’ statements, it was clear that no weapon was actually seen.

“The Riggses, who were presumably aware of the presence of this pack or holster prior to (the man’s) testimony, made no attempts to notify the court security officer of its presence,” Dailey stated. He added that Charles Riggs told him that Cloutier was upset with him for not reporting the incident while everyone was still in the courtroom.

Dailey said he closed the investigation and deemed the report unfounded because the presence of the weapon could not be verified.

The man could not be found in the courthouse or on the grounds, Dailey said. It was unknown if he even had been aware of the commotion.

About 25 minutes after leaving the courtroom, Gorman re-entered, made no explanation and recessed the sentencing hearing that had been interrupted.

Cloutier said he was going to recommend to his boss that a sign prohibiting weapons in the courtroom be posted on the entry doors.