A man now faces a federal criminal charge after he reportedly went onto the St. Mary’s Parish School campus in Sacramento while armed with a gun and tried to enter the church during an Ash Wednesday mass.
An off-duty Sacramento police detective disarmed a man who carried a loaded handgun Wednesday morning into the crowded church at St Mary’s Parish School, according to the Sacramento Police Department.
Police said the 20-year-old Sacramento man was arrested on suspicion of possessing a gun at a school, a felony charge. He remained in custody Thursday afternoon at the Sacramento County Jail, and was scheduled to appear for his arraignment on the local charge Friday afternoon in Sacramento Superior Court.
He was also being held at the jail on a federal custody hold. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento on Thursday filed a criminal complaint against the arrested man, charging him with possessing a firearm within a school zone.
The suspect, a former student at St. Mary Parish School, on Wednesday morning dropped off his younger relative at the parochial school in the 1300 block of 58th Street in Sacramento, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Federal prosecutors said the former student returned to the campus about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, walked to the front of the church and tried to enter with a loaded firearm. An Ash Wednesday mass, which began at 8 a.m., was being held inside the church.
Police said the detective, a parent attending the all-school mass, noticed a suspicious person who asked to enter the church.
Ash Wednesday marks the first day of Lent, the 40 days of fasting and penance that lead to Easter Sunday.
“He asked to go inside, he said he was there to attend Mass,” St. Mary’s parish principal Amy Hale said in a letter to families following the incident.
Police said the detective spoke to the man, spotted the firearm and confiscated it, detaining him until on-duty officers arrived. No injuries were reported.
Prosecutors said the arrested man had more ammunition and a camouflage jacket in his vehicle parked nearby. Investigators searched his home and found handwritten notes in a stack in his bedroom that contained references to suicide and threats, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The FBI and the Sacramento police are investigating the incident. If convicted of the federal charge, the arrested man faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison. His arraignment in federal court had not been scheduled.
The Bee’s Darrell Smith contributed to this story.
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Rosalio Ahumada writes breaking news stories related to crime and public safety for The Sacramento Bee. He speaks Spanish fluently and has worked as a news reporter in the Central Valley since 2004.