A 46-year-old Delaware man was arrested at an elementary school parking lot in Westfield on Thursday after being found in his SUV with a loaded gun and additional ammunition, officials said.
Westfield police learned the man, identified as Thomas J. Wilkie, was at the Tamaques School after getting a tip from New Castle County cops in Delaware just before 4 p.m., the Union County Prosecutor’s Office said. Officers took Wilkie into custody and searched the school, which was placed under lockdown with after school activities taking place.
Wilkie was holding a 45-caliber handgun loaded with hollow-point bullets, authorities said. He also had two more loaded magazines of ammunition in his possession while 130 additional rounds were in the vehicle’s trunk.
The Bear, Delaware, resident was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of hollow-point bullets, and trespassing on school grounds, the Union County Prosecutor’s Office said. Authorities in Delaware had been trying to locate Wilkie.
Wilkie, who is being held at the Union County Jail, is scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Elizabeth on Wednesday.
A spokesman for the prosecutor’s office declined to offer additional information on why a man from Delaware was at a school in Union County. Westfield school officials couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.