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802 Coleman Blvd., Suite 200, Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina 29464

Man arrested outside Mt. Pleasant school: ‘It’s not like I’m gonna shoot a bunch of kids’

By Anne Emerson and Matt Dillane, WCIV

A man has been charged after Mount Pleasant Police responded to a suspicious person report outside of a school on Wednesday.

According to officials, around 3 p.m., officers were called to the area of Carolina Park Academy where 31-year-old Michael Gorlitsky of Awendaw was detained in the library parking lot.

Police said Gorlitsky was walking through the area and was asked if he could be helped. Officials said he responded, “Nope, just a tourist passing through.”

Officers said when he was told by the complainant that the academy was private property, Gorlitsky responded, “It’s not like I’m gonna shoot a bunch of kids. I just might.”

Mobile crisis was also alerted of him being housed at the Charleston County Detention Center.
ABC News 4 spoke to Michael Gorlitsky’s brother, Adam, about his brother’s arrest. He said he’s been dealing with his brother’s issues for 15 years, and that he hopes his brother can get the help he needs now.
“It’s a real issue with my family, and nationwide too. Part of the problem with stuff like this is he’s 31-years-old. He’s an adult,” Adam said.

At court, police said they had disturbing facts about Michael Gorlitsky trying to purchase firearms, and called him “an extreme danger to the community.”

ABC News 4 asked Adam about Michael having access to guns.

“He did in the past and, thankfully, my parents got rid of that very quickly. But, no, he does not have any access right now, though,” he explained.

We also asked if there were any red flags with Michael.

“He is very interested in conspiracy theories, religion, spirituality, but he’s not into — those are the two red flags, I would say,” Adam said.

Gorlitsky is scheduled for court on October 21.

He was given a $500,000 bond at a hearing on Thursday and is required to be on an electronic monitoring system, undergo a mental health evaluation, and not have any contact with Charleston County schools according to pre-release conditions.