Rochester PD Arrests Man Seen With Replica AK-47 Outside of School & Car Dealership

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)- The Rochester Police Department arrested a man who was seen carrying what turned out to be a replica firearm outside of a Rochester school and business Sunday night. 

See Also: Rochester Police Investigating Shooting Near Goose Egg Park 

That’s according to Rochester Police Captain Casey Moilanen. He said a citizen reported spotting a man wearing a mask and carrying an AK-47 around 11:30 p.m. 

Moilanen said the report came from the area of  Tom Kadlec Kia at 4444 HWY 52. 

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While investigating the citizen’s report, a staff member at nearby Beacon Academy called dispatch and reported a camera at the school captured a person dressed in camouflage walking by the building. 

Officers went to the school at 2521 Pennington Dr Northwest and found a man in the area carrying what appeared to be a rifle, Moilanen said. 

The subject was also wearing a vest with ammunition magazine pouches. Moilanen says officers took the man into custody without incident as he walked towards the car dealership. 

Police then determined the rifle the man had was an airsoft rifle. The responding officers also found a target bag that had been placed on a chair in the Beacon Academy parking lot that appeared to have been used for target practice, the police report says. 

The suspect, who told officers he lived in the area and wanted to practice his tactical moves and shoot his airsoft gun, has been identified as 20-year-old Jakob Barrows. 

Moilanen said the Rochester man was arrested on suspicion of carrying a BB gun in public, two counts of having a BB gun on school property and disorderly conduct.

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