Photo provided: This photograph shows the .45 caliber handgun a 12-year-old St. Marys boy allegedly used to threaten at least two people Sunday afternoon at Armstrong Park.

Officers from the St. Marys Police Department arrested the boy after receiving a phone call at 3:04 p.m. Sunday reporting the boy had a weapon and threatened to shoot at least two people at Armstrong Park. When officers arrived, the boy was riding his bicycle and holding the weapon.
“The call came from an adult who observed him with the gun and he believed it to be real,” St. Marys Police Chief Greg Foxhoven told The Evening Leader, noting the park was crowded at the time of the incident. “It was loaded and he pointed it and did threaten at least two people.”
Foxhoven said Patrolman Luke Turpin arrived on the scene and found the boy in possession of a .45 caliber handgun. According to a report, the boy, at first, did not comply with Turpin’s order to surrender the weapon.
“At one point the kid put his gun behind his back,” Foxhoven said, noting Turpin did pull his weapon from his holster during the encounter. “You never take age as a factor in these cases. You can’t just look at him and say he won’t shoot because he is a kid. He had a loaded .45 caliber.”
Foxhoven said Turpin ordered the boy to put the gun down, which he eventually did. The boy was then handcuffed. Foxhoven also said officers have dealt with the boy in the past.
“He (Turpin) took all reasonable and necessary precautions an officer would take,” Foxhoven said. “He was handcuffed for his safety and the officer’s safety.”
Foxhoven said the handgun belonged to the boy’s mother’s boyfriend. The gun — which officers deemed to be legally owned — had one bullet in the chamber and four in the clip.
“There were several safeties on the gun,” Sgt. Tim Eberle told The Evening Leader. “I don’t think the kid could have bypassed them all.”
However Eberle said the situation could have been a lot worse if not for the quick thinking of the adult who called 911.
“He could have killed himself or others,” Eberle said. “It could have been bad.”
The boy faces two charges of aggravated menacing, first-degree misdemeanors if committed by adults, and one count of unauthorized use of property, a fourth-degree misdemeanor if committed by an adult. Foxhoven said the boy’s mother and her boyfriend have cooperated in the investigation.
Given the string of child-involved shootings in recent years, Foxhoven said officers now train for such scenarios. The police chief also stressed the importance of owning gun locks and using them on weapons if children are present in the household.
“We stress and stress gun safety,” Foxhoven said. “We have hundreds of free gunlocks here and we’ve given away hundreds of them. I encourage anyone who has a weapon to pick one up.”
The locks, provided under a partnership with Project Child Safe, are available at the St. Marys Police Station. Eberle also encouraged people with multiple guns to invest in a gun safe.