A 4-year-old student at Caledonia Elementary School brought a gun on campus Friday, and the man who owns the gun has been arrested.
Hunter Turnage, 24, has been charged with contributing to the neglect or delinquency of a child and causing, aiding or encouraging a minor to possess a weapon on a school campus. Both charges are misdemeanor offenses, Lowndes County Sheriff Eddie Hawkins said.
Hawkins said a staff member at CES found a 9mm handgun in the preschooler’s backpack at about 2 p.m. Hawkins said the pistol and the magazine were both empty, and there was no ammunition in the child’s backpack.
Hawkins said Turnage is in a relationship with the child’s mother, and the pistol belonged to him. Hawkins said Turnage claimed to not know how the handgun got into the child’s backpack, since it was typically stored on a shelf that was about shoulder height.
Lowndes County School District Superintendent Sam Allison sent out an automated message about the incident to parents and staff of the school just after 3:30 p.m. Friday afternoon. The message said there was no threat to any students or staff at any time, and the situation was addressed quickly.
The message reassured parents that LCSD will continue to work with the sheriff’s office to investigate the situation and to prevent future incidents.
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