A 9-year-old special-education pupil has been dismissed after he brought an unloaded gun to Garfield Elementary School in Elgin, police and school officials said Tuesday.
The boy, a 4th-grader, took the .25-caliber handgun to school on Monday. A substitute teacher found it in his backpack after he noticed a knot of pupils huddled together in the classroom, said Lt. Cecil Smith, spokesman for the Elgin police.
The boy had passed the gun around to other pupils, said Larry Ascough, the district’s assistant superintendent for community relations.
“He was showing the thing off,” Ascough said.
The boy took the gun from a relative’s home in Chicago during a visit over the weekend, Smith said.
Police checked the serial number of the weapon, and it was not wanted in any investigations.
No charges will be filed, Smith said.
Principal Shelly Leonard met with the boy’s parents Tuesday to help them find a school outside the district. This assistance is required because of the boy’s disability. After a year, he can be considered for readmittance, she said.
Leonard said the boy, who never knew whether the gun was loaded or unloaded, has been deeply apologetic.
“He was crying to the point of hyperventilating,” she said. “He never threatened anybody. He didn’t bring it to hurt anybody. He realized it was a dumb mistake, and he was very sorry.”
