A man with an ax tried to enter a school, Florida police say

A man with an ax was trying to enter an elementary school before he was shot by a school police officer, according to a Florida police report.

The man was seen on surveillance camera holding an ax and walking up the steps of Ruth N. Upson Elementary School in Jacksonville around 2:55 p.m. Friday, Oct. 7, according to an arrest report sent to McClatchy News by Duval County. Public schools.

A school employee who spoke to the man from a walkway overlooking the sidewalk where he was standing said she saw him holding an ax over his shoulder and heard him say to her, “Do you want to be next?” – says the report.

He then followed the two people down the sidewalk and entered a church less than half a mile away, the report said. Two people hid in the classroom, and he returned to the street.

Meanwhile, the school was closed. The school administration did not comment on anything except the police report.

Outside the church, the man approached a Duval County school police officer, holding an ax, and did not listen to the officer’s commands to stop, the report said. The officer shot the man several times, and he dropped the ax.

The 37-year-old man was charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill and trespassing on school grounds with a firearm or other weapon, the report said.

His bond was set at $110,009, according to sheriff’s records.

Ruth N. Upson Elementary School 370 students are enrolled in kindergarten through 5th grade, according to US News and World Report.

Jacksonville is about 140 miles northeast of Orlando.