An 18-year-old caught with a handgun at a Eustis High School football game Thursday night admitted to police he was involved in a fight in the men’s bathroom at a game last year.
J’son Rashad Cyprian was charged with simple battery, disruption of a school function, trespassing on school grounds, and burglary with battery in connection with last year’s incident. The charges from Thursday consist of alteration or removal of a firearm serial number, possession of a firearm on school grounds, and providing false information to law enforcement.
Officers observed Cyprian walking onto the campus, located at 1300 E. Washington Ave., at around 8:40 p.m. during the game between the Eustis Panthers and visiting Leesburg. The officers recognized Cyprian from last year’s incident, during which a male jumped the fence and fought someone in the men’s bathroom, according to an arrest report from the Eustis Police Department.
An officer approached Cyprian and asked him to walk and talk with him. Asked if it was his first time at the school, Cyprian said it wasn’t. He then admitted to being the one who jumped the fence last year. However, he provided a fake name and date of birth, the report said.
While another officer spoke with the supervisor on duty about the phony name and birthdate, Cyprian was secured in handcuffs and taken to be searched in an office in Building 3. Officers found in Cyprian’s waistband a loaded black semiautomatic Ruger .380 caliber handgun with the serial number appearing to be intentionally scratched off. A criminal history check revealed Cyprian was previously charged with removing the serial number from a firearm, according to the report.
At that point, Cyprian confessed again to the incident last year. He was shown pictures of the altercation and Instagram posts, and he admitted to being the suspect in the photos and owning the account, the report said.
Cyprian was taken to the Lake County Jail, where he’s being held on $114,000 bond.
