An off-duty detective attending an Ash Wednesday service in Sacramento intervened when a former student allegedly arrived armed outside a Catholic church filled with children.
Police say 20-year-old Brian Girardot Jr. first dropped off a younger relative at St. Mary Parish School on Wednesday morning before returning roughly an hour later while an all-school Mass was underway next door at St. Mary Catholic Church.
School principal Amy Hale said in a message to families that all church entrances had been secured in accordance with standard protocol and that parent volunteers were stationed both inside and outside the building.
One of those parent observers was an off-duty Sacramento police detective.
According to the Sacramento Police Department, the detective noticed Girardot behaving suspiciously and approached him.
During the encounter, the detective located a loaded handgun on Girardot and removed it before detaining him until on-duty officers arrived.
Authorities later identified the firearm as a Taurus Tracker .44 Magnum revolver.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said additional ammunition was discovered in Girardot’s vehicle, along with a camouflage jacket. The car had been parked nearby.
Principal Hale emphasized that students remained inside the church during the incident and did not interact with the suspect.
Girardot, who previously attended St. Mary Parish School, was taken into custody without incident.
He faces felony charges in state court for allegedly carrying a concealed firearm and bringing a weapon into a school zone.
Federal prosecutors also filed a charge accusing him of possessing a firearm within a school zone, which carries a potential sentence of up to five years in prison.
Investigators later executed a search warrant at Girardot’s home. According to court documents cited by KTXL-TV, officers recovered handwritten notes that included references to suicide and threats directed at family members.
One note reportedly listed three relatives and stated that they were the reason for his actions. Another included profanity-laced language on both sides of the page.
Court filings indicate Girardot acknowledged writing the notes but told officers he had composed them earlier and occasionally took them out to look at them. The documents were found on top of a stack, which investigators suggested indicated they had been recently handled.
Authorities said four additional firearms were located in Girardot’s garage, including a 12-gauge shotgun and a Winchester Model 670 .30-06 rifle.
He is being held at the Sacramento County Main Jail and is reportedly ineligible for bail.
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The Diocese of Sacramento, joined by Bishop Jaime Soto and the Department of Catholic Schools, issued a statement expressing appreciation for the vigilance shown by the parent observer and relief that no one was harmed.
The diocese said it remains committed to maintaining secure learning environments and will continue reviewing safety procedures in cooperation with law enforcement.
The incident in Sacramento unfolded as prosecutors in Georgia pursue a case against a father accused of contributing to a deadly school shooting carried out by his teenage son.
Colin Gray appeared in court this week facing 29 charges tied to a 2024 mass shooting at Apalachee High School.
Prosecutors allege that Gray bought his son, Colt Gray, an AR-15-style rifle for Christmas despite prior warnings from authorities about alleged threats made online.
Colt Gray is accused of opening fire inside the school, killing two 14-year-old students, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, along with two teachers, Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53. Nine others were wounded.
The father is charged with two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of involuntary manslaughter, 20 counts of cruelty to children and five counts of reckless conduct. If convicted on all counts, he could face up to 180 years in prison.
Colt Gray is being prosecuted as an adult and faces 55 charges, including four counts of felony murder. A trial date has not yet been set.
Court records show that more than a year before the shooting, law enforcement officers interviewed both father and son about a threat posted on Discord using an email account associated with the teenager.
Colin Gray told investigators at the time that his son had access to firearms for hunting and safety instruction but did not have unrestricted access.
He also said that if his son had made such a threat, he would be furious and would remove all guns from the home.
Authorities ultimately closed that earlier investigation after they were unable to confirm that the teenager had authored the online messages and did not seek a court order to seize the family’s firearms.
Prosecutors argue that despite that encounter with police, Colin Gray later gave his son the rifle and allowed him to keep it in his bedroom.
They contend the teenager displayed troubling behavior that should have prompted stronger intervention.
Following the shooting, investigators reportedly found what prosecutors described as a shrine in the teen’s bedroom dedicated to the perpetrator of the 2018 school massacre in Parkland, Florida.
Defense attorneys for Colin Gray argue that he attempted to help his son and did not ignore warning signs but lacked the expertise to address what was unfolding.
Prosecutors told jurors that on the day of the shooting, the father sensed something was wrong.
They said he texted his daughter asking whether she had heard from her brother. She responded that she had not and added, “I think we’re thinking the same thing.”
Colin Gray then returned home to check his son’s bedroom and discovered the rifle was gone.
When officers arrived at the residence, prosecutors said the father immediately stated, “I knew it.”
