Couple with young children disarms shirtless York County man with loaded AR-15, cops say

A couple who had just attended a Halloween party with their three young children disarmed a man who was walking on a Spring Garden Township street with a loaded AR-15 rifle, according to charging documents.

The man with the gun, Cody J. Gohn, who was not wearing a shirt or shoes in 45-degree weather, said he was looking for his wife and was carrying the gun "for fear of child sex predators," documents state.

Gohn, 22, of the 900 block of South Albermarle Street, Spring Garden Township, faces two counts of recklessly endangering another person and one count each of disorderly conduct and public drunkenness, documents state.

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As of Monday morning, Gohn remained in York County Prison on $20,000 bail. He has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Nov. 9 before District Judge Jennifer J.P. Clancy, according to online court dockets.

Around 10:30 p.m. Saturday, Spring Garden Township Police were sent to the 1300 block of Toann Road for a man with a weapon who had been disarmed, documents state.

Once there, an officer spoke with Mick Holtziner and Chelsea Henise. Holtzinger said that he, Henise and their three chidlren, ages 2, 4 and 8, had attended a nearby Halloween party and were walking to their vehicle, documents state.

As Holtzinger and Henise were putting their children in their vehicle, a man, later identified as Gohn, approached them. Gohn was walking a Great Dane, carrying an AR-15 rifle and was shirt- and shoe-less, documents state.

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An AR-15 is a semi-automatic modern sporting rifle, according to the National Shooting Sports Federation.

Gohn told them he was looking for his wife, but was lost, documents state.

"Holtzinger felt he (male carrying the rifle) was intoxicated or under the influence of a controlled substance," documents state. "For safety reasons, Holtzinger asked the male to hand over the rifle; the male complied."

Gohn also gave them a clip to the gun containing eight bullets, documents state.

When police examined the gun, they found a bullet "stuck in the chamber of the rifle," and seized the clip. Searching Gohn's pockets, police found a .223 bullet and a Buck knife, documents state.

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A visibly upset Henise told police the encounter with Gohn scared her to the point that she believed Gohn might shoot her or her family. When Gohn was outside their vehicle, she instructed her children to lie down on the floor of the vehicle and told the people at the party to stay inside, documents state.

In speaking with Gohn, police could smell the odor of alcohol about his body, and Gohn admitted to police he had been drinking alcohol earlier that night, documents state.

Contact Ted Czech at 717-771-2033