An update now on the loaded handgun that was taken to school Monday at St. Gregory.
The D.A. will take the case to a Smith Ccounty Grand Jury to see if charges are filed.
A teacher found the gun in a four-year-old student's overnight bag. The principal says the weapon belonged to the student's father.
Although the father not been arrested, he could face three charges of prohibited weapons, making a firearm accessible to a child, and endangering a child.
By Hayley Wielgus
A teacher spots a gun inside a 4-year-old student's bag at St. Gregory Catholic Elementary School in Tyler Monday.
School officials said the student's father accidentally left his gun in her overnight bag. When they found it at school, they handed the case over to the Tyler Police Department and sent a notice to parents.
As parents and caretakers picked up their children from school Tuesday, several still hadn't heard a gun was found on the St. Gregory campus Monday.
"Wow that's scary; it's really scary," said Marcelle Jordan, nanny of twin 5th graders.
Jordan said neither she nor the girls' parents knew about the incident.
"It makes me question the security a lot," she said. "I don't think that you should have to search elementary kids, but obviously if a 4-year-old ends up with a gun, maybe you're going to have to if it's going to make it safer."
St. Gregory Principal Kathy Shieldes Harry told CBS 19 this statement was sent out Monday via the parent notification system:
One of the St. Gregory parents told us today that he inadvertently left his holster and gun in his child's overnight bag. The bag was brought to school. The matter was turned over to the Tyler Police Department.
"They handled it, I think, pretty well," said Buen Arago, father of a 5th grade student. "Giving notice to the parents is pretty good."
Arago said he heard about the incident in an email from the school.
"It concerned me because if it accidentally goes off, somebody may get hurt," he said.
Or face charges.
"As far as bringing a weapon onto school premises, it's against the law period," Tyler Police Officer Don Martin said.
Martin said making a weapon accessible to a minor is a Class C Misdemeanor.
"If that child takes a gun and they actually discharge it, where they cause injury to someone or death, then the penalty actually increases to a Class A Misdemeanor," Martin said.
The student's mother told the Tyler Morning Telegraph that she and the girl's father share custody and that's why she had an overnight bag. She also said the child's father is a certified concealed handgun instructor in the area.
A Tyler Police detective is investigating the case. The names of the student and parent involved have not been released.
