Police: Man arrested after bringing fake gun into Monsey elementary school

MONSEY, New York (WABC) -- Police arrested a 19-year-old man Friday afternoon after they say he brought a fake gun into a Rockland County elementary school.

The incident happened around 1 p.m. at Elmwood Elementary School on Robert Pitt Drive in Monsey.

Authorities say Yechiel Lefkowitz, of Spring Valley, entered the school and walked into the main office, where he stated to a school secretary that he wanted to show her something. At that time, Lefkowitz allegedly removed the fake handgun from inside his jacket and dropped it on the floor.

Lefkowitz was detained by school employees and placed under arrest upon the arrival of Ramapo police officers.

He is charged with burglary, menacing and criminal possession of a weapon.

East Ramapo School Board President Yehuda Weissmandi issued the following statement:

"Earlier today an incident occurred in which we believe an adult relative of a former student entered the main office of Elmwood Elementary and acted erratically. At no point was the safety of our students compromised and he was arrested very quickly. The young man today never went past the main office and never encountered any students. The safety and well being of our students is our foremost priority. We take great care in providing a safe and secure environment for our students and today's incident demonstrated that our security protocols seem to be working as they were designed. However, we constantly review and update our security protocol and will immediately assess with security personnel and local law enforcement if any updates or improvements should be made. We thank the Ramapo police department for their quick and professional response and will continue to work with them to ensure that we have systems in place that will continue to keep our students safe and secure."