A Lucas County Sheriff’s deputy is still shaken as he recounts the moment a security guard threatened him with a gun aimed at his back and tried to take him into custody at an Ohio IRS office.
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Deputy Alan Gaston, said the guard didn’t do his due diligence to de-escalate a situation when he entered the IRS in full uniform and with his badge showing to address a personal matter about a letter he received.
Gaston says he had his gun on his hip and when security guard Seth Eklund asked him to leave it in his cruiser, the deputy who was still on duty May 31, told him no can do, 13 ABC reports.
Ekland at that point, aimed his gun at Gaston’s back.
Monday, the security guard security pled not guilty to one charge of aggravated menacing during his first court appearance.
Security cameras also caught the dust-up and appeared to show Ekland following Gaston to an elevator. The defensive tactics instructor said he walked away in an effort to de-escalate. But Ekland, he said, had his finger firmly on the trigger.
“There’s really no way to know how you’re going to act when there’s a gun pointed at you and when you think you’re going to lose your life,” said Gaston.
“If I’m going to get shot, like I thought I was, it’s not fair. They came in there to do their business,” said Gaston.
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Gaston is now suing the security company Ekland is employed by and for lost wages. He says he suffered emotional and psychological distress, and remains on medical leave the outlet reports.