An 11-year-old boy in Utah reportedly told classmates that his parents recommended that he take a gun to school for defense after the recent mass shooting at an elementary school in Connecticut.

According to KSTU, students at West Kearns Elementary School notified teachers after the sixth grader pulled a .22 caliber pistol out of his backpack on Monday morning.

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“At recess, he pointed a gun to my head and said he was going to kill me,” fellow classmate Isabel Rios recalled.

Granite School District spokesperson Ben Horsley said that after the staff was informed, the boy was “apprehended in 30 to 45 seconds and immediately brought down to the office and the police were on site within five to 10 minutes.”

Several parents told the Fox station that they were disappointed that the school had only notified them with a pre-recorded message at 5:30 p.m., after the the students were already home.

“There was no lockdown,” parent John Klaus explained. “No one was called. Nothing was done. And then we had to hear it from our kids.”

Ashlee Gordon said that she had decided to keep her 7-year-old son home from school on Tuesday.

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“I don’t want to have to be at work, or anything like that, and worry about my child possibly not coming home, especially before Christmas,” Gordon told KSTU.

Horsley said that it was “understandable” that several other parents had also decided to pull their children out of school for a while.

“We are going to be working with those families, making sure they are comfortable with the steps and actions the school is taking,” he insisted.

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The Granite District Police Department booked the 11-year-old suspect on three counts of aggravated assault. School officials also promised a “lengthy” suspension, which would apply to all campuses in the district.

Watch this video from KSTU, broadcast Dec. 18, 2012.

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[Photo credit: Shutttertock.com]