Gulf Coast News spoke to a parent and coach who disarmed a 13-year-old boy accused of threatening children at gunpoint at a Cape Coral park.
Christopher Nicholsen says he is a softball coach and was holding practice Tuesday night when he heard other parents saying there was a teen with a gun.
"One of the parents had come to the fence line and started yelling, there's a there's a kid at the playground with a gun," Nicholsen said.
Immediately, Nicholsen and other parents began looking for the child wearing a red and black striped shirt. That's when they began questioning the child.
"One of the fathers had asked him, were you the one with the gun? And he immediately said, no, it's just a BB gun," Nicholsen said. "He withdrew and he brought his shirt up, I immediately recognized it as a firearm, actually, one that I owned myself personally."
Nicholsen said the teen lowered his hand down to his waistband and looked as if he was going to draw on Nicholsen.
"It was a flight or flight response at that point in time, and I proceeded to basically block his hand away and get kind of control of the firearm, and I was able to disarm them at that time," he said.
Cape Coral police says that the teenager was 13-year-old Jiovanni Peguero. Parents held Peguero until police arrived.
The Cape Coral Police Department says the incident began when officers received a call from a family reporting that their child had been held at gunpoint by another minor in northeast Cape Coral, who then stole their scooter.
The victim immediately informed their family, who contacted the police.
As officers were investigating the case, they received another report of a child being threatened with a weapon at Burton Park. Law enforcement worked quickly to determine if the two incidents were connected.
"The description of that weapon matched the gun that was used in the second case as well.," said Lisa Greenberg, public information officer for the Cape Coral Police Department. "Their guardian had noticed that their gun was missing. So it all kind of worked out that this was a situation that was connected."
Police confirmed that both incidents were connected and took the 13-year-old into custody. Officers also noted that this was not the first time the suspect had been involved in serious criminal activity.
Greenberg emphasized the importance of parental involvement in preventing these types of crimes.
"The whole situation is very sad. It's, you know, sad. As a family member of this particular suspect, it's also cited as a community to hear that someone this young is involved in crimes like this," she said.
People who know Peguero say they wouldn't have expected this from him.
"Yeah, it's crazy, man. I wouldn't have guessed that, though," Ahmed Henry said.
Henry said Peguero has battled issues at home for a while.
"You know, but I never really, like, got the gist of their relationship with him and with his dad. But all I know is he was, like, always run away from home. I was talking about some home problems or whatnot," Henry said. "He told me his whole life and everything that's going on with him and I, you know, I kind of felt for him.
The 13-year-old now faces serious charges, including aggravated assault and possessing a weapon.
Nicholsen said he considered one 12-year-old the hero of this story for recognizing the situation, clearing the playground, and alerting parents.
"Difference that that child was raised right. He knew to do that. He didn't overreact to the situation. Some kids might have got defensive or started an altercation. Know that kid handled everything. You know, he's got a bright future," Nicholsen said.
The investigation remains ongoing.