GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Grand Rapids Police Department plans to press charges against the father of a child who brought a loaded gun to a Grand Rapids elementary school earlier in May.
On Wednesday, Chief Eric Winstrom said police are looking to charge the father of the involved student.
The chief did not elaborate on the nature of the charges, but said more details will be coming later.
"We want to let, let it be known that we are taking gun crimes very seriously," he said on Wednesday.
Later that day, the department confirmed charges had been filed.
Police say the investigation "focused on the student's home situation that allowed access to a loaded weapon.
An adult in the student's home has been charged with felony firearm and 4th degree child abuse, according to GPRD.
The charges stem from an incident on May 10, when a third-grader carried a loaded gun into Stocking Elementary School.
In a letter to families, the Grand Rapids Public Schools district said one student informed a staff member that another student had a weapon.
A third-grader was found with a loaded sidearm in their backpack, GRPS said.
“This could have had a very tragic outcome if another student and GRPS staff hadn’t acted so quickly," said Chief Winstrom after charges were announced. "GRPD is committed to holding people accountable, but we can’t do it alone. As a community, we have a responsibility to our children, and to each other, to keep guns out of the hands of kids and to keep illegally possessed guns off our streets.”
After the incident, which represented the fourth gun seized from a GRPS student, the district banned backpacks from all schools across the district as a precautionary measure, a move that sparked some controversy.
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Another parent is also facing charges in connection to a gun discovered on a GRPS campus. On May 3, a 7-year-old brought a gun into César E. Chávez Elementary School, andauthorities later charged the child's mother and her fiancee.
