Boy, 5, Takes Gun to School — Police Say Another Student Told Officials

By Stephen D Price prices@commercialappealcom

A 5-year-old boy brought a loaded handgun to Grandview Heights Elementary in Frayser Monday morning, police said.

The child took the gun into a bathroom where an older student saw it and told school officials, Memphis police Sgt. Vince Higgins said.

The boy was taken to Juvenile Court and released to his parents later.

The boy told authorities the gun belonged to his father, Higgins said.

The Department of Children’s Services is investigating.

No names were released.

Children bringing weapons to school has become an all-too common occurrence.

In October, an 11-year-old Frayser Elementary student was arrested for bringing a gun to school. The sixth-grader, who had been spatting with classmates, was charged with carrying a weapon on a school campus and assault.

On Nov. 9, two 16-year-old Houston High students, a boy and girl, were charged in Juvenile Court with bringing a .357 Magnum on the Germantown campus. The school’s principal found the Smith & Wesson handgun – loaded with five rounds – in a Crown Royal bag locked inside an otherwise empty locker.

Police said the girl brought the gun because of threats from other students and gave it to the boy, who put it into the locker.

The arrest of the southeast Shelby County teenagers came a day after a 15-year-old boy in East Tennessee was charged in the shooting death of an assistant principal and wounding two other school administrators.

School officials at the Jacksboro school had been questioning the boy about bringing a gun to school when he opened fire.

In the first 40 days of the current school year, the Memphis city school district recorded 63 weapons violations. That’s down from 68 violations during the same period last year.

– Stephen D. Price: 529-2786