Armed man shows up to high school football game with rifle and two handguns, school says

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. - Just after Archer High School won its home football game Friday night, things took a scary turn.

As students celebrated, a spokesperson Gwinnett County Public Schools says one of its school resource officers spotted a man walking through the parking lot armed with a rifle.

"They told the person to stop, drop the weapon, and that person obeyed those commands," said district spokesperson Bernard Watson.

When the officers searched the man, who they identify as 19-year-old Brian Garfield Fort, Watson said they found two more handguns.

"It was our first win so everybody was there," said Malachi Farren, an Archer High School junior. "I left immediately after the game. A lot of incidents have come after the games, especially nowadays."

The Gwinnett County School Police Department has charged Fort with possessing a weapon on school property. Watson said he is not student at the school.

Last month, Archer’s principal sent a letter home to parents that a student brought a gun to the school.

Watson said, "Firearms on school property is not only against the school district policy, but it’s against the law, and as we saw in this case if you violate that law your face criminal charges."

He lauded the quick-thinking school resource officer and the others that responded immediately after.

"We look at this as a positive situation in that our SROs did what they are trained to do," he said. "They did a great job of identifying a potential threat and then neutralizing that threat and no one got hurt."

It’s not clear what Fort was doing on school property, or if he has any affiliation with the school whatsoever. The district says that the criminal investigation is not over.