ALIQUIPPA, Pa.--A loaded gun was found Monday in an Aliquippa, Pa. Elementary School kindergartner's backpack, reports CBS affiliate KDKA. 
 
 According to Superintendent David Wytiaz, another student notified the teacher who retrieved the gun and contacted the principal. 
 
 "The weapon was removed without any visibility to any student; it never left the backpack," said Wytiaz. 
 
 Aliquippa Police were called. 
 
 "The weapon was a small .22-caliber revolver. It was loaded," said Chief Donald Couch, of the Aliquippa Police Department. "However, the gun was never in the possession anybody, it was just in the book bag." 
 
 The boy said he brought the gun to school to get it out of his home, according to KDKA sources. 
 
 "The student offered a very unique reason for having the gun," said Chief Couch. "That matter is being investigated by not only the school district but the Aliquippa Police Department. We don't believe there was any ill intentions by the student by any means." 
 
 Superintendent Wytiaz says the safety of the students was not compromised. 
 
 Wytiaz sent a letter to school parents Tuesday, notifying them of the situation. 
 
 "The student will be subject to School District Policy regarding weapons violations," Wytiaz wrote. "Local law enforcement will determine the extent of any other charges." ||||| Police and Aliquippa school officials said a kindergarten student brought a loaded gun to school Monday. 
 
 Aliquippa Police Chief Donald Couch Jr. said the loaded .22-caliber revolver was found Monday morning inside a backpack, but they are sure the student meant no harm. 
 
 Superintendent David Wytiaz told parents that another student told a teacher about the weapon inside a backpack. 
 
 Administrators at Aliquippa Elementary School secured the firearm and turned it over to Aliquippa police. 
 
 “It's a very unique situation,” Police Chief Donald Couch Jr. said. “As far as the circumstances, how it got there, I can't go into that.” 
 
 Police have contacted the child's mother and her boyfriend to determine whether any criminal charges are warranted. The gun came from the boy's home and is registered to someone born in 1914 who police think is dead. 
 
 Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Wolf visited the school that day at around 2:15 p.m. 
 
 “I can stress that at no time were any students in danger,” Couch said. “We are definitely sure there was no ill will by the student towards anyone.” 
 
 Wytiaz reiterated that point. 
 
 “We believe at this point, there was no threat made or anything like that,” Wytiaz said. “The gun was removed without anyone seeing it.” 
 
 Channel 11’s Gordon Loesch reported the child who had the gun is 5 or 6 years old. 
 
 The boy’s family told Channel 11’s Courtney Brennan that the boy wasn’t being aggressive. He simply was trying to protect his younger brothers. 
 
 “For them to say he’s aggressive, that’s a lie,” said his godmother, Nicole Lutle. “It’s not that this child was bad. It’s not that this child had a temper because all of that is a lie.” 
 
 According to Lutle and other family friends, the boy found the gun on a bed inside his apartment in the Linmar Terrace housing complex Sunday night. 
 
 “He picked it up because he didn’t want his little brother to get to it,” Lutle said. “He knew his little brother wouldn’t go through his book bag, so he put it in his book bag and forgot it was in there. 
 
 The boy’s younger brother is 3 years old. 
 
 “He’s a very sweet kid. He wasn’t taking the gun to school to hurt anyone,” Lutle said. 
 
 Lutle doesn't condone what happened but said this kindergartener and his siblings need help. 
 
 “We have to show these kids more love because if we don’t show them, what do they think they have?" she said. 
 
 On Tuesday, several parents told Channel 11’s Gordon Loesch that they’re angry and fearful after the incident. 
 
 “My son, they all ride the bus together. I feel really scared for him,” said Darryce McCoy. 
 
 A letter was sent home to parents Tuesday, but some said they should have been notified sooner. 
 
 “That’s not good enough. We need to know when it happens,” Smith said. 
 
 The Associated Press and Channel 11’s news exchange partners at TribLIVE contributed to this report. ||||| School has just begun for most kids, and along with the pencils and notebooks that the students brought to one school in Pennsylvania was a gun -- a loaded gun. It was found in a 5-year-old's backpack in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, after a classmate told the teacher about it. These kids are in kindergarten. And there was a loaded gun in a kindergarten student's backpack. Terrifying. The boy was suspended, but I don't think he should have been. He has a very good reason why he brought the gun to school. 
 
 The child said he found it on a bed in his house and didn't want his 3-year-old brother to get it, so he packed it in a place he thought was safe. 
 
 The child's grandmother, Nicole Lutle, spoke to WPXI and said: 
 
 He put it in his book bag and forgot it was in there .... For them to say he’s aggressive, that’s a lie. It’s not that this child was bad. It’s not that this child had a temper because all of that is a lie. 
 
 This whole story is worrisome on so many levels. I have 5-year-old twins who are in kindergarten. The thought of either of them somehow handling a loaded gun scares me to my core. The thought of them being in a classroom where another child brings in a gun is equally frightening. I am so thankful this story didn't turn out worse. But I also do not think this child should be suspended -- his parents should be. They should be charged somehow. If what this child said was true, he was protecting his 3-year-old brother. He didn't want him to get the gun, which was reportedly loaded and lying on a bed in their home. 
 
 That decision may have saved this boy's brother's life. Of course there are so many ways this could have played out and thank everything everywhere that no one was harmed. Kids and guns do not mix in my opinion. Ever. Not even at a shooting range -- the story of a 9-year-old accidentally killing her firing range instructor is proof of that. But I just can't stop thinking about a loaded gun lying on a bed with a 3- and 5-year-old in the home. I can't stop thinking that what this kid did was sincerely what he thought was the right thing. 
 
 What do you think? Should the child be suspended? Should any action be taken against the parents? 
 
 
 
 
 
 Image via Mika Jarvinen/Flickr 
 

– A kindergartner bringing a loaded gun to school is one thing, but the explanation he gave to authorities makes the case more unusual: He says he found it at home and wanted to make sure his 3-year-old brother didn't hurt himself, reports KDKA of Pittsburgh. "It's a very unique situation," says the police chief in Aliquippa. The boy says he found the loaded .22-caliber handgun on a bed and stuffed it in his backpack because he knew his brother wouldn't look there. When he brought it to school, another student found about it and told a teacher. “He’s a very sweet kid," a family friend tells WPXI of Pittsburgh. "He wasn’t taking the gun to school to hurt anyone." It sounds as if police and school officials believe the boy, and police are still considering whether to file charges against the child's mother or her boyfriend. The gun isn't registered to either of them. "I just can't stop thinking about a loaded gun lying on a bed with a 3- and 5-year-old in the home," writes Michele Zipp at the Stir. "I can't stop thinking that what this kid did was sincerely what he thought was the right thing." (The family of a gun-safety instructor accidentally killed by a 9-year-old girl at a shooting range say they feel sorry for the girl.)