SUFFOLK, Va. - A man has been charged after a gun was found in the backpack of a first-grade student at school.
Suffolk Police responded to an incident Thursday involving a student with a weapon on the campus of Oakland Elementary in the 5000 block of Godwin Blvd.
An investigation of the incident revealed that a household member of the first grader placed the handgun in the student's backpack according to police and it was never removed. Which led to the 1st grader bringing the gun onto this school's property.
"It's not something you expect to happen at the school your kids are in. You know you hear about but then it actually happens" said the mother of students who attend Oakland Elementary School.
This mother of three did not want to show her face on camera. Her two boys go to Oakland Elementary. She tells me she panicked when she got the news from the school.
"It makes people scared to send their kids to school as it has been for a while now," said the concerned mother.
Police came to the school after administrators told them about a student believed to have a weapon. The student was then searched and the gun was turned over to the police.
"Putting everyone else's kids in danger is not the answer," said the concerned mother.
Our News 3 reporter Kelsey Jones obtained a letter sent home to parents. Oakland Elementary School Principal Candance Myrick sent the following letter home to families regarding this incident:
News 3 did reach out to the city and ask if the gun was loaded. They declined to answer and said the student did not know the gun was in the bag when he brought it to school. On Friday, police served multiple misdemeanor warrants to 27-year-old Keydran Leary in connection to the incident. Charges include allowing access to firearms by children, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and reckless handling of a firearm.
Suffolk Public Schools do have SROs in every middle and high school. Elementary schools share an SRO with either a middle school or a high school. All Suffolk Public Schools have metal detectors and each school is required to have a metal detector drill every month.
