A disturbing incident involving a Tesla Model X owner brandishing a gun at a teenage skateboarder was caught on camera, leading police to seize the offender's handgun and open of an investigation.
It happened on August 14 in the parking lot of a church in Gilbert, Arizona. The video shows a middle-aged man parking his Model X and approaching the group of skateboarders.
As one of the skateboarders rides a handrail on his skateboard just outside Compassion Church, the man pulls out a handgun from his pocket and points it at the teenager for a few seconds before telling the group "now get out of here." The man did not seem bothered at all that two of the kids were filming him. The skateboarder replies to the threats with a smile and says, "Alright, we will."
The surreal scene filmed by one of the skateboarders was originally posted on TikTok where it went viral. According to a representative of the church cited by 12News Arizona, the man with the gun lives nearby, but he does not even go to the church.
People from the church, which is also a school, want the Tesla driver charged, with the representative saying the ramp the teenager was riding down is leading to the kids' club.
With regard to the incident, the Gilbert Police Department released a statement confirming that the gun was seized and the case remains active "pending further investigation."
"On August 14, 2022, at 12:16 pm, Gilbert PD responded to an aggravated assault call which occured near the 900 block of East Guadalupe Road. The reporting party showed officers a video of an adult male displaying a handgun while verbally confronting a skateboarder. The parties involved were contacted by Gilbert officers. The handgun was located and seized as evidence. The case remains active at this time pending further investigation. Upon conclusion, the case will be submitted to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office for review."
As you can imagine, the incident drew a lot of comments on social media, with many people calling for the aggressor to be charged and arrested, including gun rights groups.
In Arizona, brandishing a gun like this, even for citizens who have a permit to carry a concealed weapon, is illegal unless done strictly for defensive purposes when "physical force is immediately necessary to protect himself against the use or attempted use of unlawful physical force or deadly physical force" (Arizona Revised Statutes Title 13. Criminal Code § 13-421).
