FARMINGTON — A man who walked around the downtown with a toy gun that appeared real was charged with terrorizing Thursday night.

John Cushman, 20, “made lots of people nervous” when he strolled through town with a toy gun tucked into his shorts, said Deputy Chief Shane Cote of the Farmington Police Department.

An employee at the Homestead Bakery on Broadway called police at about 9:50 p.m. and then called employees at The Roost pub to warn them that a man was wandering around with a gun. 

The Roost employees locked the doors with patrons still inside, Cote said, and as police searched for the man, the employees asked for a police officer to stand near the door because some patrons wanted to leave.

Farmington officer William Tanner arrived at The Roost and saw Cushman showing the gun to someone outside. It looked real, Cote said, until he saw the orange ring that toy guns are required to have. The ring was not visible when the gun was tucked into Cushman’s shorts, Cote said.

He said Cushman was charged with terrorizing because his actions scared people and caused them to secure themselves in a building.

Cushman was taken to Franklin Memorial Hospital and released without a mental health evaluation. He was then taken to the Franklin County Detention Center, Cote said.

abryant@sunjournal.com