SEBASTIAN — Divers have called off the search for a pistol Friday afternoon after spending five hours diving in the Schumann Canal near Admiral Circle. Police say the gun was used during an assault early Wednesday.
Sebastian Police spokesman Officer Steve Marcinik said that the pistol apparently wasn’t located exactly where the suspect said he tossed the gun.
“It may very well be there,” Officer Marcinik said of the gun, but authorities have decided to stop the hunt for it.
What made the search even more challenging was the 12-inch layer of silt lying on the bottom of the canal. Officer Marcinik said that gun most likely sunk below the silt, making it difficult for divers to feel for it.The divers used an underwater metal detector to aid in the search.
Officer Marcinik said that the divers, from Indian River County Fire Rescue’s Dive and Recovery team, felt they did a very thorough search of the area.
Police say that 18-year-old Brandon White, of 111 Capri Ave., Sebastian, brought the gun to an altercation that occurred around 6 a.m. Wednesday.
Officer Marcinik said that the altercation involved White and two juveniles, a male and a female. During the initial altercation, the unidentified male threatened the girl and the girl’s family, Officer Marcinik said.
White left the scene, went home and returned, brandishing a chrome plated .32-caliber pistol, he added.
At no time during the second incident did White point the gun at anyone, Officer Marcinik said. However, White did pull the slide and “took action to charge the weapon.”
The officer said that White was defending the girl’s honor and that he “just made some bad decisions.”
White was arrested shortly after the incident Wednesday and remains in the county jail on $5,000 bond. He faces a felony charge of aggravated assault.
