Staff Report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Seventeen-year-old Garren Luther Johnson faces adult charges for three felonies linked to the possession of ammunition and several Glock handguns, two of which have been modified with a “switch” to function as fully-automatic weapons. During his arrest, he also allegedly threatened a law enforcement officer.
On November 15, 2025, Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputies were called to an apartment in Tower Oaks Glen regarding a juvenile armed with a gun. Prior to arriving at the scene, deputies reviewed Johnson’s social media, uncovering public posts where he displayed a black handgun with an extended magazine tucked in his waistband; another image reportedly depicted him with five Glock handguns.
The leaseholder of the apartment permitted the deputies to search the premises, where they reportedly discovered in Johnson’s bedroom a loaded 9mm Glock magazine, a red-tip 7.62×39 rifle round, four .380 caliber rounds, and three 9mm rounds.
Inside a backpack located in the living room, deputies reportedly found a Glock 19 loaded with a 31-round extended magazine, a Glock 34 with an empty 31-round extended magazine and modified to be fully-automatic, a Glock 23 containing 13 rounds of .40 caliber ammunition in a 22-round extended magazine, and another Glock 19 with seven 9mm rounds in a 30-round extended magazine, also altered to operate as fully-automatic.
During the arrest, Johnson allegedly threatened a deputy, exclaiming, “Imma beat your ass!”
Post Miranda, Johnson reportedly said the bedroom where the ammunition was found was his, but the ammunition was not his. He said the firearms and ammunition in the backpack were also not his.
Johnson has three juvenile convictions for vehicle burglary and thus is an adjudicated delinquent who is not permitted to possess firearms or ammunition until he is 24 years old.
Johnson, who was described as a Buchholz High School student on his arrest report but has been in a juvenile detention facility since November, has been formally charged with possession of ammunition by an adjudicated delinquent, possession of firearms and ammunition by an adjudicated delinquent, possession of a machine gun, and threatening a law enforcement officer with serious bodily harm. On December 31, Judge Denise Ferrero ordered that Johnson will be charged as an adult and set bail at $500,000.
Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
