NEW WHITELAND, Ind. — Parents and school leaders in Johnson County want to know how a boy was able to get a handgun and then try to bring it to his elementary school Wednesday morning.
The gun was confiscated on a school bus in the parking lot of Break-O-Day Elementary School Aug. 9 around 8:45 a.m. after another boy reported the gun to the driver.
"That's what we have taught them,” Clark-Pleasant School Superintendent Tim Edsell said. “That's what I know is taught throughout all of the state of Indiana is to report any incident that's a threat, that has a firearm, that is a concern. And that's what was done today, and we're again thankful for those actions."
Edsell said the incident happened on the first bus to arrive at school. The boy who allegedly brought the gun from home in his backpack was apparently showing it to other students on the bus. The boy was only described as upper elementary age. The bus should have on-board camera video of the incident for police to use in their investigation.
Michael Bennett has a daughter in first grade at Break-O-Day. She rides a different bus. He said the parents must be held accountable.
“I'm sure that that kid showing the weapon around probably didn't realize what he was actually doing,” Bennett said. “So, I don't blame the kid. I blame the parents. The parents need to be in jail, simple as that. Like it can't be a slap on the wrist. They need to serve jail time."
Clark-Pleasant School Police did not say if the gun was loaded. Any criminal charging decision will be up to the prosecutor. School discipline for the boy who brought the gun will be decided by administrators.
Bennett plans a serious talk with his daughter after school.
"I probably have to show her a picture of what a gun is, unfortunately, just so she is aware of what a weapon looks like,” Bennett said. “Then, I'll just tell her that if you ever see one, go and tell an adult."
Kimberly Humston has had the same talk with her 9-year-old son, Carter.
"He wants to be in the Army," Humston said.
Even so, she said Carter knows right now, guns are off-limits.
"He knows that he never is supposed to touch a gun. He knows that you're never supposed to point a gun at anybody, unless you plan on using it, and he knows the consequences of pointing a gun at somebody. You can end their life," Humston said.
Knowing all that, Carter, who is in fourth grade, said he knew what to do Wednesday when another student on the bus showed Carter he had a gun in his backpack.
"He said, 'Hey! Look at this.' And so I did, and then, he pulled out a gun, so I ran and told the bus driver," Carter recalled.
"He said (the boy with the gun) usually brings toys, so he thought he was going to show him a toy at first," Humston said.
Carter knew it wasn't a toy though when he said he saw bullets, too, so he told the bus driver.
"He was following behind me, and he told the bus driver he didn't have any bullets in it," Carter recalled.
The gun never made it inside the school.
Humston said they also talked to Carter after the school called her to let her know what happened and that everyone, including her son, was OK.
"It could have been a very different phone call, and that's terrifying," Humston said.
Indiana has no laws regarding gun storage to prevent kids from getting ahold of them. Several state lawmakers have proposed such laws, but haven't gotten anywhere.
Laws or not, as a parent, Humston can't imagine owning guns and not keeping them stored away, like she said she does in her house.
"They are locked. No bullets in the guns, and the kids don't know where they're at," Humston said.
After what happened on Carter's bus Wednesday, that didn't seem to be the case for one of his peers. That's left Humston playing out in her head what could have happened, but thankfully didn't.
"Whether he intended to hurt anyone or not, it could have went off, and who knows what could have happened then," Humston said.