Parents rushed to Walton-Verona schools in panic last year after employees spotted a man with a firearm on campus, triggering lockdowns across multiple schools. Now, 21-year-old Landan Strong of Burlington has been sentenced to more than four years in federal prison.
Prosecutors said Strong parked at Walton-Verona High School while attempting to buy a handgun from a nearby resident. He arrived with an AR-style rifle, two handguns and dozens of rounds of ammunition.
U.S. District Judge Chad Meredith sentenced Strong on Oct. 7 after he pleaded guilty to possessing firearms and ammunition as a prohibited person. As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors dismissed a second charge, and Strong agreed to forfeit the weapons seized during the investigation.
Prosecutor says NKY man's life 'revolved around guns and drugs'
Prosecutors described Strong as a gun enthusiast and daily user of marijuana and fentanyl in a presentence court filing. In October 2025, they said, he went to a friend's house to smoke marijuana and buy a gun. They said he parked on the campus of Walton-Verona High School.
When he returned to his car, school employees saw Strong with a gun, prompting a lockdowns at the high school, the district's Early Childhood Center and the nearby St. Joseph Academy Catholic school.
"Where he was and what he was doing induced a lot of panic," Assistant U.S. Attorney Elaine Leonhard said in court.
Strong told police that he went to the home of a woman who lives near the school to buy a handgun and parked at the school to "feel safe when he exited his vehicle," according to court filings.
He went back to his vehicle but saw a police cruiser and panicked, discarding the weapons, the filings state.
Boone County Sheriff's deputies who were called to the school after he was spotted used surveillance cameras to locate and arrest him. Strong admitted to police that he wrapped the firearms in clothing and threw them into the woods. Strong showed the deputies where he hid the firearms and 64 rounds of ammo, court filings state. He was also carrying a bag of pressed fentanyl pills.
Authorities seized another gun and more fentanyl pills while searching Strong's home later that same day. Prosecutors said a review of his cellphone showed that Strong regularly traded firearms and narcotics.
"A lot of his life revolved around guns and drugs," Leonhard said.
Strong was initially prosecuted in Boone County Circuit Court, but that case was dismissed after a federal grand jury in Covington indicted him in March.
Judge notes life challenges in handing down sentence
Strong's attorney, Marvin Knorr III, said in court that his client started smoking marijuana at age 13 before eventually turning to fentanyl.
Strong's father died before he was born and he's a survivor of sexual abuse, Knorr said, adding that Strong's choices were "heavily influenced by things he did not control in his life."
Knorr asked the judge to sentence Strong to time served or probation, noting a need for mental health and substance-use treatment.
"The public doesn't need to be protected from Landan Strong," he said. "He needs help from the public."
Strong read a letter to the judge during the sentencing hearing, describing how he turned to drugs as an escape from the hardships in his life. He said he faced ridicule from other children for growing up without a father.
Strong said he had acheived his longest period of sobriety before the incident at the high school but relapsed after learning of a family member's cancer diagnosis.
"I made choices and I understand those choices have consequences," Strong told the judge. "I had convinced myself that life wasn't worth much."
Meredith rejected the defense's request for for a sentence without incarceration but chose a prison term at the low end of what federal sentencing guidelines called for, noting Strong's challenging life circumstances leading up to the crime.
"This is a particularly difficult situation," Meredith said. "There's a lot more to you than just this offense."
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Man who parked at school for gun buy, causing panic, gets prison term
