Fearful Child Brings Loaded Gun to School, Cites Newtown Worries

KEARNS, Utah — Authorities say a Utah sixth-grader caught with a gun at school told administrators he brought the weapon to defend himself in case of an attack similar to the mass shooting last week in Newtown, Conn.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that two classmates at West Kearns Elementary School reported the gun to a teacher toward the end of the school day Monday.

Granite School District spokesman Ben Horsley says the teacher "immediately apprehended the student," and police responded shortly after.

Horsley tells KSL-TV that an unloaded gun and ammunition were found in the 11-year-old's backpack. Authorities have not released the child's name.

Horsley says school police are investing reports that the boy pointed the gun at another child's head. He says such accounts haven't been confirmed.

Authorities say no one was injured.