Guns Found in Janitor's Truck Parked Outside School: Police

A janitor at a Northeast Philadelphia High School is currently under mental evaluation, after police say guns and ammunition were found inside his truck parked outside school property.

On Friday, officials with the Sheriff’s Office went to the man’s home on the 4300 block of Devereaux Street. NBC10 is not identifying the man since he has not been charged.

Investigators say the janitor had lived at the home for years but stopped paying his mortgage and real estate taxes. The officers were there to serve a court-ordered mortgage eviction.

As the officers searched through the home, investigators say they found several guns and ammunition. The man was not inside the home however.

“They brought a bunch of guns out of the house,” said the man’s neighbor, William Kitchen. “Boxes of ammo, metal boxes, cardboard boxes and wooden boxes. This guy had enough stuff to kill us all and blow up the neighborhood.”

The officers then went to Lincoln High School on the 3200 block of Ryan Avenue, where the man had worked as a janitor for 27 years. When they arrived, they say they found more weapons and ammunition inside his truck which was parked on school property.

While the janitor is within his legal right to have guns at his home, carrying weapons on school property is a misdemeanor.

Officers apprehended the janitor and took him to a mental hospital where he is currently undergoing an evaluation. Investigators say they have no indication that the janitor planned on harming anyone at the school or in the nearby area. Neighbors don’t believe he was planning anything at the school either. They do say however that he was willing to do anything to keep his home.

“He was just mad at the world,” said his neighbor Matthew Layne. “He wasn’t giving up that house. I think he wanted to go out in a blaze of glory.”

Investigators say the janitor’s weapons were seized and will not be returned to him due to his mental state.

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