A kindergartner brought a gun to school in Swift County on Tuesday morning, and authorities are investigating to find out how such a thing could have happened.
No one was hurt in the incident at Northside Elementary school after everyone — from the other students to teachers to law enforcement — acted quickly to get the gun away from the young child.
About 8 a.m., students alerted a teacher that the child, who police say is about 5 years old, had brought a weapon into the school building. The teacher quickly confiscated the gun.
Benson Police Chief Ian Hodge said there is no reason to believe that the kindergartner intended to cause any harm, although police are withholding details, including where the gun came from and whether it was loaded.
"The child has no intent to harm anyone," Hodge said.
The district posted a notice about the incident on its Facebook page.
"[E]veryone is safe. The crisis plan was followed and all proper authorities were alerted," the statement said in part. "Safety is our foremost concern and we continue to review our crisis plan as an ongoing process. We take this incident very seriously."
This was the first time a student brought a firearm into a Benson school, said Hodge, who added that school staff nevertheless quickly put all their training from countless school safety drills into practice.
