City and education leaders are looking for answers Friday, after police say a loaded gun was brought to a Boston school by a 7-year-old student Thursday.
It was a semi-automatic gun and was found in the backpack of the student, a police source directly related to the investigation told the NBC10 Boston Investigators. It happened at Up Academy Holland School, which is in Dorchester.
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"We have to ask ourselves how a very young student becomes in possession of and gains access to a firearm," Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper said in a statement. "I don’t have the words. This is truly devastating."
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The Boston Police Department responded to the K-5 school just after 3:30 Thursday afternoon, for a report of a student with a gun, according to the agency. Officers were able to recover the loaded gun from the child.
Detectives are now looking into the incident, as city leaders seek accountability for whoever allowed the child access to the dangerous weapon.
"No child should be near a weapon, much less directly endangered at such a young age," Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said in a news release. "Thanks to the swift action and coordination of school staff, Boston police, and first responders, this situation was immediately identified and safely addressed."
Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox said the department is focused on the "proliferation of guns in our City," and said that ensuring they don't end up in the hands of children must be a priority.
Superintendent Skipper said the district is constantly working on safety measures to keep students safe.
"We’re working with all of our city and state partners every day, multiple times a day, to address safety concerns, strategize new tactics to keep students safe, and create synergy in our responses to emergencies," she said in the release. "We’re grateful to BPD and first responders who were on the scene immediately. But we cannot do this work alone. When a young person gets access to a gun out of accessibility, we really have to ask ourselves, how does this happen?”
The incident came just hours after Skipper met with Boston city leaders to discuss what has been a violent start to the school year. A student was shot by another student on the grounds of Jeremiah Burke High School earlier this month.
New data showed that bullying incidents in the 2021-2022 school year compared to the 2018-2019 school year increased by 80%. Sexual assault and misconduct cases in that same time frame went up by 67%.
Boston City Councilor Erin Murphy says it’s still under investigation how long that gun may have been in that child’s backpack – whether it was multiple days or just Thursday.
It’s also unclear where the boy may have gotten a loaded weapon like that, and why he might have brought it to school with him.
Councilor Murphy called the situation dangerous for everyone in the school, saying it’s scary to think if the child thought the gun was a toy or got nervous, someone could have been dead.
“Finding out a child as young as seven, loaded gun in his bag is really – it’s scary," Councilor Murphy said. "It’s scary for him, the child, knowing he’s exposed to that, and just for his classmates, his teacher."
A few other details are still unclear, including whether the gun was discovered during school hours or just after classes were let out and what kind of disciplinary action the child may face. Police have also not yet said how the gun was discovered.
