A preschool boy carried a loaded pistol into an elementary school in southeast Washington, the Metropolitan Police Department said.

Detectives arrested the boy’s father, Anthony Earl Chiles, 31, of Southeast, after a security guard at Moten Elementary School on Morris Road SE checked the child’s backpack and found a loaded Glock 17 9mm, semi-automatic pistol around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.

The boy is 3 years old, according to the police report.

Chiles was charged with carrying a pistol without a license, possession of unregistered ammunition and recklessly endangering a child’s physical, mental or emotional health.

On Wednesday, Chiles appeared in court and denied putting the gun in his son's backpack. He said it must have been in there when he picked the child up from the boy's grandmother's house to take him to school.

According to court documents, the grandmother and another adult in the grandmother's home have denied any knowledge of the gun being in the backpack.

Chiles is being held in jail overnight, pending another hearing on Thursday.