HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — Huntersville Police have now charged a 7-year-old boy who brought a loaded 9mm handgun onto his school bus.
According to the police report, the incident happened the morning of February 6th. That’s when police say the 7-year-old got onto his school bus, headed for Blythe Elementary school in Huntersville.
Police said the boy then communicated threats toward two students and pointed the gun at them.
The gun was loaded with 15 bullets, according to Huntersville Police.
“This was very heartbreaking to me to know that a student had access to this weapon,” said Mecklenburg County Board of Education member, Jennifer De La Jara.
She spoke about the incident at Tuesday’s school board meeting.
Police have not said how the boy got his hands on the gun, or who it belonged to, but that didn’t stop De La Jara from making a plea to all gun owners to properly store their weapons.
“About 80% of children get their hands on weapons from inside their friends' and families' homes and cars because the weapons are not secured properly,” De La Jara said. “This is a problem we can actually tackle in the sense that if adults would properly store their weapons it could have a direct impact."
Police say the charges against the child include weapon law violations, aggravated assault and communicating threats (against a person).
They say his case and punishment will be handled by the juvenile courts.
WCNC Charlotte also asked police if the boy’s parents have been or will be charged. A spokesperson for Huntersville police said the parents have not been charged, but that the investigation is still open and on-going.
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