Crime & Safety
Police Respond to Reports of Man Carrying Gun at St. Patrick's Church
A juvenile male was found with an Airsoft pistol in the parking lot of the church, according to police.
Yorkville police responded in force to calls reporting someone with a gun in front of St. Patrick's Catholic Church on Monday afternoon.
"It was mayhem for a while," Police Chief Richard Hart said after it was all over late Monday afternoon.
Sometime between 4:30 and 4:45 p.m., a 911 call reported a young man carrying a handgun, Hart said. That is about the same time children show up to the church for religious studies classes, said Father Matt Lamoureux, pastor of St. Patrick's.
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Hart said he was one of the first officers to respond and they found a 17-year-old juvenile male in the parking lot carrying what Hart described as an Airsoft pistol that looked like a lethal handgun. Police descended on the juvenile with weapons drawn, Hart said.
Hart said his officers keep high-powered rifles in the squad car to respond to situations involving firearms.
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Hart said he does not think the juvenile pointed the weapon at anyone, but questioned why he was walking around with it, especially on the heels of the worst school shooting in U.S. history.
"I don't know if he was looking for attention, but he got it in the form of a lot of guns being pointed at him," Hart said.
Hart said he expects the juvenile will face disorderly conduct charges, but could not say late Monday afternoon exactly which charges would be filed.
On Tuesday afternoon police said the juvenile was charged with disorderly conduct in violation of a city ordinance pertaining to air guns and was released to his parents.
Lamoureux said they're relieved everything was OK and thankful no one was hurt.
Patch will update this story as more information becomes available.
