Police: Man brought gun to high school basketball game

Officer in Brunswick stops 19-year-old man with loaded gun

BRUNSWICK, Ga. – A quick acting police officer in Brunswick stopped a teenager with a loaded gun from entering a high school basketball game Tuesday night.

Police arrested 19-year-old Ahmaud Marquez Avery (pictured below), who is not a student at Brunswick.

"The man ran through the parking lot. I tried to get him to stop as well. He would not stop for us," said Glynn County Schools Chief of Police, Rod Ellis. "We ended up chasing him to the back of the school were other officers helped us apprehend him."

Ellis said the .380 caliber semi-automatic handgun slipped out of the teen's pants.

A parent, who did not want to be identified, told Channel 4 he saw the gun as he was about to enter the school gym. He said police were everywhere.

"They were trying to keep everyone calm and away from the gun that was on the ground. They wouldn't let anyone in or out of the gym," said the parent.

The basketball game continued without interruption while police arrested Avery.

"The main thing is we stopped him from getting into the event," Ellis said. "We don't know what his intentions were but you know it's never a good combination when you bring a weapon to a school event clearly when it's posted that you can't."

At Friday night's basketball game, Chief Ellis said they added more officers and from now on, every person will be scanned with a metal detecting wand.

Police said Avery is out of jail on bond.

Two of the police officers suffered injuries. One has been treated for a fractured hand.