Teacher finds 1st grader with loaded gun at Newark, NJ charter

NEWARK — After a weekend with three mass shootings a first grader was found with a loaded gun at a charter school on Monday morning.

Police were called to the North Star Academy on 18th Avenue around 10 a.m. after taking possession of the weapon from the child, according to Newark Public Safety Director Brian O’Hara. The child's guardian was notified.

Parents told RLS Metro Breaking News the child told friends he was ready to kill teachers. The child was showing off the gun to other students like "show and tell," another parent told ABC 7 Eyewitness News.

"Firearms should be secured, unloaded, and the ammunition should be separate from the firearm," O'Hara said to ABC 7, explaining how to safely have a firearm.

O'Hara did not disclose how the child got a gun, who the gun belonged to and if anyone was charged in connection with the weapon.

"All students were safe and accounted for during this time and instruction was able to continue without interruption," according to a statement from the school.

Ten people died after gunman Payton S. Gendron, 18, opened fire at a Buffalo supermarket with an assault-style rifle. On Sunday five people were shot, 1 fatally, at a church in Orange County, California while two people were killed in a shooting at a Houston flea market.

Dan Alexander is a reporter for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at dan.alexander@townsquaremedia.com

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