South Seneca elementary student brought a loaded handgun to school

On Tuesday morning, a 7-year-old South Seneca Elementary student brought a loaded gun to school in a coat pocket. There was no incident beyond the discovery of the loaded firearm after which the school principal secured the weapon. The Interlaken Police department is investigating the incident along with school officials.Interlaken Police Chief Leon Anderson said the gun was a .380 semi-automatic handgun. Authorities believe the child just brought it because he had previously seen his father with it. The handgun was discovered shortly before noon when a teacher witnessed the first grader reach into his coat pocket and put it into his backpack. The seven year-old boy has been suspended indefinitely pending a superintendent’s hearing. Below is a statement that was posted on the school district website on Tuesday afternoon…Please be aware that today, April 21, 2015, an Elementary student was discovered to have carried a loaded gun to school in a coat pocket. Thankfully, the situation was quickly discovered and the gun was secured by our principal. It is very important to know that we have absolutely no statement or evidence that there was ever intent to use the gun in any way.Our students are very well supervised in our schools, and in fact, our safeguards worked perfectly in this case. Within minutes, we had law enforcement in the building and a thorough investigation confirmed that there was no danger to students after the gun was confiscated. The investigation is ongoing with the Interlaken Police Department.All questions regarding the incident should be directed to me in my office, 607-869-9636, extension 4147, or by email at [email protected]. Thank you for your understanding.Stephen Parker ZielinskiSuperintendent