"We have to ask ourselves how a very young student becomes in possession of and gains access to a firearm,” the Boston Public Schools superintendent said in a statement.
Boston police retrieved a loaded handgun that a 7-year-old brought to school.
Around 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 27, police responded to a report of a student at Up Academy with a firearm, according to a police news release.
When police arrived, they removed a loaded firearm from the young student at the school, police reported.
Police said the firearm recovered was a semi-automatic gun that was stored in the student's backpack, but did not release details on how the firearm was initially found, according to NBC 10 Boston.
The ongoing investigation into this incident is being done by detectives from District C-11 and the Boston Police School Unit.
“The Boston Police Department is focused on the proliferation of guns in our City and keeping access to them away from the youngest among us needs to be a priority for everyone,” said Boston Police Department Commissioner Michael Cox, in the police release.
With the incident and the reminders of gun dangers in school ever present, Mayor Michelle Wu and the Boston Public Schools superintendent, Mary Skipper, spoke on the incident.
“The person responsible for allowing access to this weapon is going to be held accountable," said Mayor Michelle Wu, according to the police statement. "No child should be near a weapon, much less directly endangered at such a young age.
“I’m speechless. I don’t have the words. This is truly devastating," said Superintendent Skipper, according to the police statement. "We have to ask ourselves how a very young student becomes in possession of and gains access to a firearm.”
