Billings Kids Are Staying Inside For Recess Because Of A Rifle

Billings Elementary Moves Recess Indoors After Man Seen With Rifle

Kids at a Billings elementary school are being kept inside for recess because a man across the street keeps showing up with a rifle.

Broadwater Elementary School parents were notified again last Friday after Gabriel Metcalf was reportedly seen on his front lawn holding a rifle within view of the school and playground.

Rifle Reports Near Broadwater Elementary School Date Back To 2023

KTVQ is reporting that Metcalf, who lives directly across the street from the school, has periodically been seen holding a rifle on his property for the past three years. School officials have chosen to move recess into the gym and stop using outdoor areas that are visible from his property.

Sadly, this isn't the first time the school has had to warn parents about the situation.

Metcalf was arrested in 2023 after multiple reports of him carrying a rifle around the neighborhood, including on public property near Broadwater Elementary. He eventually pleaded guilty to a federal firearm charge and was sentenced to three years of probation.

KTVQ has covered his arrest here, his guilty plea here, and his sentencing here.

Google Maps//Canva

Appeals Court Dismisses Federal Charges Against Billings Man

Now, that federal conviction has been overturned by an appeals court, which ruled that prosecutors failed to establish that Metcalf had the required knowledge that his conduct was prohibited under federal law.

The court pointed to a conflict between gun laws in Montana and the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act saying Metcalf had a plausible understanding that his actions were permitted.

Regardless of the legality of his actions, the situation is still having a very real-world effect on students.

And for parents, that's probably the part that matters most.