A Florida man is accused of trespassing the grounds of a Northern Virginia preschool while an AK-47, a handgun, and ammunition were stashed in his car.
Eric Sandow, 32, of Gainesville, asked whether he could use the restroom at the Dolley Madison Preschool in McLean at around 11 a.m. Tuesday, but was denied. School officials said that Mr. Sandow never entered the main building.
Mr. Sandow was unarmed while making the request.
After parking his car at the school, Mr. Sandow walked to the gates of CIA headquarters about 1.5 miles away, and began rambling to people there about the weapons he had in his car.
Mr. Sandow did not, however, make any overt threats of violence, and left to return to his car, still parked at Dolley Madison.
“We’re called to the scene and we find him on his way back to his car,” Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis recounted to WJLA-TV.
Police said they found an AK-47, a handgun, and boxes and bags of ammunition in Sandow’s vehicle, including five extra magazines for the AK-47 and six extra magazines for the handgun.
Mr. Sandow has been charged with felony possession of a firearm on school property.
Yesterday, our officers took an AK-47 off the streets after a man was trespassing at the Dolly Madison Preschool in McLean. Officers found the unarmed man who said he was making his way to the CIA. #FCPD pic.twitter.com/l3Vdo12Ks8
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) May 24, 2023
The school has since increased patrols around its campus.
“Any time there is an individual, or is on school property that’s unfamiliar, an alert should go up, and that’s what happened here. We’re really grateful that the Fairfax County police responded quickly, and this wasn’t anything more than a stressful situation,” Christine Ryu-Naya, a member of the school’s board of directors, told WRC-TV.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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