An alert citizen last week turned over to Homer Police a pistol he said he saw another man bury under a tree near the Homer Public Library. The gun was not stolen and not connected to a crime, said Homer Police Sgt. Lary Kuhns.

Kuhns said that about 4 p.m. Oct. 9, a man sitting in a car saw another man look around suspiciously, dig a hole by a tree and then bury a bag. The suspect man then left. The complainant looked in the shallow hole and found a plastic bag with a handgun. He then brought the bag and gun to the police station. Police checked the area and found a hole near a clump of trees by Hazel Avenue between the library and Safeway.

Kuhns said the man who buried the gun wouldn’t have broken any laws as long as he isn’t a felon in possession of a firearm. Kuhns said the only reason he could think of for why the man buried the gun was because he wanted to go to a bank, where it’s illegal to bring guns inside. Police checked surveillance cameras and interviewed people in the area, but did not find the suspect man.

The man who turned over the gun prevented a potentially dangerous incident, Kuhns said. The gun was loaded and had a round in the chamber. Had a child coming from the library found the gun, the result could have been tragic, he said.

“It was clearly an unsafe situation at that time of day,” Kuhns said.

The owner of the gun can claim it at the police station if he or she can describe the gun and other contents in the bag, Kuhns said.