A suspicious person complaint in the area of Summer and Montgomery streets led to the recovery of loaded semi-automatic handgun that was hidden inside a shoe box and placed in a garbage can Monday, according to Passaic County Sheriff Richard Berdnik.

Authorities were told the male suspect was looking all around and placed a shoe box in a garbage can at the intersection and walked away. Detectives checked the garbage can and located a Nike sneaker box that contained a .40cal High Point semi-automatic handgun loaded with ten bullets, authorities said.

The suspicious male was not found at the scene when authorities arrived. “Once again, a loaded weapon has been taken off our streets,” Berdnik said. “I have no doubt, that weapon was strategically placed, so it quickly be utilized for criminal activity. Hopefully a violent crime was prevented by this gun being confiscated.”