Shotgun-wielding man patrolled sidewalk near elementary school, scaring kids, feds say
A man wielding a 20-gauge shotgun patrolled the sidewalk outside his home — across from an elementary school — every day for two weeks, federal prosecutors said.
The behavior scared staff, students and their parents at the nearby Broadwater Elementary School in Billings, Montana, and prompted multiple police calls from Aug. 2 to Aug. 17, according to court documents.
The man told law enforcement he “did not want to hurt kids and patrols his yard to prevent crime from happening to him,” while believing he was being “gang stalked” by another man, court documents say.
Despite the public’s complaints, police said he didn’t break any Montana gun laws, MTN News reported.
However, the man is accused of violating federal law, according to a Sept. 14 indictment charging him with unlawful possession of a firearm in a school zone in violation of the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990. Court records show he was arrested Aug. 22.
The 49-year-old Billings resident pleaded guilty to the charge March 25, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana announced in a news release.
McClatchy News contacted federal public defenders appointed to represent the man for comment March 26 and didn’t receive an immediate response.
Russel A. Hart, one of his federal defenders, argued the indictment against his client should be dismissed because he was protected by the Second Amendment and “felt his actions were necessary to protect himself,” court records show.
A motion to dismiss the indictment was denied Jan. 31.
Concerns from elementary school parents over sightings of the man with a weapon resulted in Broadwater Elementary School staff covering a playground fence in tarp in August, when the school year began at the end of the month, the Billings Gazette reported.
Additionally, outside activities were held behind the school building, away from his property, according to the newspaper.
The first calls to police came in Aug. 2, when one person reported the man walked onto the property of a Domino’s Pizza next to his home, across from school, while armed, prosecutors said.
That day, a woman who was cleaning his neighbor’s home saw him walking up the driveway with the shotgun over his shoulder, heading toward her, according to a trial brief.
Days later, one person reported he was “standing on the sidewalk and carrying a firearm while staring into traffic and looking directly at Broadwater School,” prosecutors said.
An officer noticed his behavior was “escalating as he has gone from sitting on his porch to following cars while being directly across from Broadwater Elementary School,” an affidavit says.
On Aug. 15, the man was asked if he could stop patrolling with his weapon when school was in session, but he “would not commit to this compromise,” according to the affidavit.
When he spoke to police Aug. 17, the man acknowledged he followed cars while holding his gun and also walked with his mother, carrying his weapon, down the block to her shop, prosecutors said.
“(He) further told officers he patrolled daily and usually went around the block once or twice a week, but that lately he had done it several times a day,” according to prosecutors.
The day of his arrest, he told MTN News he was “exercising (his) constitutional right” following an argument with a neighbor.
“I have armed for self-defense and in defense of my loved ones and others as well,” he told the outlet. ”I’m not here to intimidate or frighten.”
However, the sidewalks he patrolled were public property and within 1,000 feet from the elementary school, prosecutors said.
The man is facing up to five years in prison and a $100,000 fine, according to prosecutors.
His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Aug. 2.
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