LEWISTON – A woman who went to an elementary school Friday with a gun tucked in the waistband of her pants was arrested and charged with possession of a firearm on school property.

Police arrested Tylor Austin, 30, of 108 Bartlett St., while she was sitting in the principal’s office at Montello Elementary School.

“She’d gone to pick up her kids, and was talking with the principal when the principal noticed the gun in her pants,” Lewiston police Lt. Mark Cornelio said.

The 9 mm handgun was not loaded, police said.

School officials called 911 and locked the school down at 10:57 a.m. Police responded by 11 a.m. and took Austin into custody. The school was locked down for half an hour.

Austin, the mother of three Montello School students, claimed to have domestic issues and said she was carrying the gun for protection, Lt. Cornelio said.

She wasn’t trying to hide the gun, so police did not charge her with carrying a concealed weapon, Cornelio said. Austin didn’t make any threats or show signs of aggressive behavior, police said.

She was booked at the Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn and released at 2:24 p.m. on $200 cash bail with an order not to return to the school. She is scheduled to appear in 8th District Court in Lewiston on May 6. She faces up to six months in the county jail and fines of up to $1,000 for the Class E misdemeanor charge.

The gun was confiscated by police and will be held as evidence, Lt. Michael McGonagle said.