Realistic 'fake Glock' caused a Lakeland private school to lock down Wednesday

LAKELAND ― Polk County Sheriff's Office has arrested an 18-year-old man for disrupting a school by bringing a fake gun onto its grounds.

Adrian Araujo-Garcia of Lakeland was arrested Wednesday within 2.5 hours of being spotted at Resurrection Catholic Church and private school on Old Highway 37 in Lakeland. He faces two misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and disturbing and interrupting a school function.

About 12:15 p.m. Wednesday, a school employee on her lunch break in the parking lot saw Araujo-Garcia in front of the church. Araujo-Garcia walked to a silver Honda Civic in the parking lot and picked up a silver handgun, appearing to insert a magazine into it, according to the Sheriff's Department. He then got into the car, which left the parking lot.

The school employee called 911 and told another employee, causing the school to go into lockdown. Descriptions of Araujo-Garcia and the vehicle, along with video surveillance photos, were quickly sent to media and posted on PCSO's social media accounts.

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Araujo-Garcia saw the photos of himself on social media and called the Sheriff's Office. Deputies were already en route to the home where the vehicle was registered.

Araujo-Garcia said he went to the church to pray and when he got into the car, he saw the silver-colored toy gun in the backseat and picked it up. The toy appeared to be "jammed," he told deputies, so he got into the front seat and began manipulating the toy to "clear the jam." Deputies found the gun, which was a realistic looking plastic replica of a Glock model 18 handgun, with a white slide and removable magazine. From a distance, the toy is nearly indistinguishable from a real firearm, the Sheriff's Office said.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: PCSO says 18-year-old caused Lakeland school lockdown with fake gun