A Jefferson City man was charged with unlawful use of a weapon after an incident Thursday.
A Jefferson City Police Department probable cause statement shows the department's 911 Center received several calls Thursday morning about a man, later identified as Brenden Jackson, 27, with a gun walking north in the 500 block of Monroe Street, towards the police department. The callers said Jackson was pointing the handgun toward the ground.
Due to the calls, the Jefferson City Academic Center, which is in this general area, was placed on lock down status. There were 75 students at the center at the time of this incident.
Jackson was located by JCPD officers at the intersection of East High and Jefferson streets. They reported Jackson was in possession of a 9mm handgun with a magazine containing 14 rounds of ammunition.
Authorities interviewed several witnesses including one who told officers they saw Jackson with his finger on the trigger of the gun and they were afraid he was getting ready to shoot. This witness also allegedly saw Jackson arguing on his cellphone as he was holding the gun.
When questioned by authorities, Jackson allegedly said he'd found the gun a couple of days earlier in a vacant parking lot and decided to keep it for protection. He also said he never fired the weapon, but did know about the ammunition it contained. Jackson denied he had any criminal intent to hurt or injure someone with the gun.