Police link Wheaton man to gun found outside school

A 26-year-old Wheaton man has been linked to the loaded handgun found near the grounds of a Wheaton elementary school last week, police said.

Brent T. Smith turned himself in Tuesday after an arrest warrant was issued earlier in the day, police said.

A neighbor walking his dog near Madison School at 1620 Mayo Ave. spotted Smith's 9 mm semiautomatic handgun alongside a dog leash on a dirt trail about 75 yards from the school on Dec. 15, authorities said.

The gun was found before the start of the school day and was secured by police before any students arrived, Erica Foreman, a spokeswoman for Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200, said.

Wheaton detectives and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms were able to trace the ownership of the weapon to Smith, police said.

He was charged with one count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and was released after posting $2,500 bond.

School officials, along with police officers and detectives, searched the interior and exterior of the school that day and found nothing suspicious.