Ax-wielding man shot after trying to get into elementary school, Florida cops say

A man carrying an ax tried to get into an elementary school before he was shot by a school police officer, according to a Florida police report.

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

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

He then followed two people down the sidewalk and into a church less than a half-mile away, according to the report. The two people hid in a classroom, and he went back outside.

In the meantime, the school went into lockdown. School officials did not comment beyond the police report.

Outside the church, the man walked toward a Duval County School Police officer while holding the ax and did not listen to the officer’s commands to stop, the report says. The officer shot the man several times, and he dropped the ax.

The man, 37, has been charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill and trespass on school property with a firearm or other weapon, the report says.

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

Ruth N. Upson Elementary School enrolls 370 students in pre-kindergarten through grade 5, according to U.S. News and World Report.

Jacksonville is about 140 miles northeast of Orlando.

This story was originally published October 10, 2022 at 4:56 PM.