LOWELL, Mass. — A Lowell man is facing charges after his 8-year-old son brought a handgun to school and showed it to his friends.
Police say the third grade student at Greenhalge Elementary thought the unloaded pistol was a toy when he brought it to school last Monday.
The boy told police he found it in a box that had been brought to his home by a relative who was displaced by a fire.
"I don't understand how a parent would have a gun and then it's not safe enough to the point that a kid can lay hands on it and then bring it to school," Declan Fotoh, the mother of a second grade student, said.
Parents of other students at the school say they don't know how something like this could happen.
The boy's father has turned the gun over to police. He is charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and improper storage of a firearm.
In addition, parents are meeting with school administrators and police to discuss the matter on Friday.