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A Utah sixth-grader, who told classmates he was encouraged by his parents to bring a gun to school after the Connecticut school shooting, was apprehended by teachers after he was found with an unloaded .22-caliber handgun, Fox13Now.com reported.
The unidentified student, described in the report as an 11-year-old boy, reportedly pulled the gun from his backpack during recess Monday at West Kearns Elementary School, which is in a suburb of Salt Lake City.
Isabel Rios, a fellow sixth-grader, said the boy pointed the gun at her head and said he was going to kill her, the report said.
Students did not immediately alert teachers about the gun. A district spokesman told the station that once teachers were alerted, the student was "apprehended in 30 to 45 seconds" and brought to the principal's office.
Some parents were not satisfied with the school's response.
"There was no lockdown. No one was called. Nothing was done. And then we had to hear it from our kids," said John Klaus, a father of a student at the school.
The school administrators, for their part, said there was no lockdown because the situation was resolved quickly and they did not want to startle students.
Police were investigating to determine what role, if any, the boy's parents may have had in the incident. The student was taken to a juvenile hall. He may face criminal charges and/or expulsion from the school.
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