EPIC Theatres of St. Augustine evacuated in weapon scare; it was only a man with a sandwich


Posted: December 27, 2012 - 4:37pm

A report of a man tucking a shotgun under his coat Thursday afternoon at EPIC Theatres of St. Augustine turned out to be nothing more than a moviegoer taking a sandwich into the theater.

The short-lived scare was still enough to force St. Johns County Sheriff’s deputies to temporarily evacuate the theater off State Road 207 as they searched for the suspect. Deputies responded because a customer called to report that a man in the theater parking lot had stuffed a shotgun into his coat before entering the building.

Cpl. Catherine Payne of the Sheriff’s Office was on scene and said that deputies detained and questioned the man suspected of having a gun. But they quickly determined that he was just “a guy with a sandwich,” and he was let back into the theater with the rest of the other patrons.

“We’re definitely glad it ended without incident,” Payne said.