'Suspicious' incident at Lakeland catholic school stemmed from man spotted with fake gun: PCSO

LAKELAND, Fla. - The Polk County Sheriff's Office provided some clarity on a ‘suspicious’ incident that was reported at Resurrection Catholic Church and private school in Lakeland on Wednesday.

According to PCSO, an employee at the school saw an 18-year-old near campus with a ‘realistic-looking fake gun’ and told another employee to put the school on lockdown.

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The Lakeland 18-year-old went to the school at 12:15 p.m. on Wednesday. The employee, who was on her lunch break, said she saw him at the front of the church and then saw him walk to his car in the parking lot.

The employee then saw him open the door to the vehicle and retrieve a silver handgun, appearing to insert a magazine into it. The employee immediately called 911, according to PCSO.

Photo courtesy: Polk County Sheriff's Office

The 18-year-old saw the images of himself and the vehicle shared on social media and called the sheriff's office while deputies were en route to the home where his car was registered. 

He was arrested and charged with Disorderly Conduct and Disturbing/Interrupting School Function, both of which are misdemeanors. 

He told deputies that he had gone to the church to pray and when he got into the car, he saw the toy gun in the backseat and retrieved it. According to PCSO, he said it appeared to be ‘jammed’ so he picked it up, got into the front seat, and began manipulating it to clear the jam, once firing it into the front floorboard. 

The sheriff's office reported the plastic gun was a realistic-looking replica of a Glock model 18 handgun. 

"I thank the staff and leadership of the Resurrection Catholic Church school for making sure there is a school resource deputy on campus to help protect their students and faculty from harm," Sheriff Grady Judd said. "We were able to identify the suspect within 90 minutes, and we had him in custody within 2 ½ hours. We cannot emphasize enough to people how important it is that if they see something, or hear something, to say something to law enforcement, so we can investigate and keep people safe."