In a very bizarre incident, an 8-year-old second-grader was caught with a loaded handgun at a St. Louis elementary school in Missouri last week. According to Fox News, the weapon was discovered when a teacher at Pamoja Preparatory Academy noticed an 'unusual behavior' in the student during recess on Friday, December 3. The identity of the student is not clear at the moment.
The weapon was seized by the authorities and St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department was informed of the discovery. The incident was also reported to the Department of Family Services. The outlet further reported that no criminal charges were considered against the 8-year-old child. The school district refused to comment on any potential disciplinary action on the student, citing the rights of privacy.
Authorities informed Fox 2 St. Louis that the kid found the handgun inside a lockbox under his parents' bed and brought it to school for the purpose of 'show off'. A second-grader, Kylie Vardiman told the outlet that she was playing with her friends when the said student showed them the gun. Vardiman further noted that she was shocked and so were other students. "We were like, 'We don't want to see that!' We told somebody to go tell the teacher," Vardiman said.
'I was scared'
It is not clear how many rounds were inside the loaded gun. No one was reported hurt in the incident, however, parents and students raised concerns over the same. Vardiman's mother, Lakita Robinson told the outlet that the district sent an email regarding the incident to parents on Friday, December 3. "I was scared because there are too many school shootings going on, and especially with my kids being so young if anything would've gone down, it was just so scary for me," she said.
'Store the firearms out of reach of children'
The district director of communications and marketing, George Sells told Fox News that the safety and security of children and staff are top priorities. He further noted that an investigation into the incident is going on. "In the meantime, we are asking parents, guardians, and caregivers to please check on any firearms in the home, secure them and store them out of reach of children," he said.
