QUEEN CREEK, AZ — Tense moments were captured on Queen Creek police body camera video after a 9-year-old boy took a gun to Legacy Elementary School in September last year.
Through new information, we learned the 4th grader took a bullet to school the day prior to taking the gun in his backpack. But, according to the videos, that was delayed in reporting.
In an interview with detectives, the boy's mother admitted she left the box unlocked with the gun inside, to get the paperwork out of the lockbox before an appointment.
She also admits to taking her son shooting a year ago to teach him gun safety.
In body camera footage, Detective Driskill asks the boy's mother what gun they have at home.
The mother replies, “I don't even know. I think it's a 9mm handgun. It's kept in our room. It doesn't come out. The boys don't even see it. They only know that we have it because we went shooting.”
Driskill replies: When was that?
Mom: A year ago. They don't know where we put it.
The boy's mother admits the gun is stored in the top drawer of their dresser, which is sometimes locked.
Driskill asks: What about ammunition?
Mom: We keep the clip out of it. The ammunition is in the closet. The clip is outside of the gun, in the drawer with it but I think it's loaded.
Driskill: The magazine is usually loaded?
Mom: Yeah.
When detectives interviewed the boy about why he brought a gun to school, the boy claimed he had the gun for self-defense, in case he was kidnapped.
The child was eventually charged. The parents were not.
The Pinal County Attorney's Office confirmed to ABC15, that the boy completed a gun safety class with his parents and then the charges were dismissed.
