An Elizabethtown man is charged with reckless endangerment for leaving his loaded gun in his son's book bag, which the boy took to Bear Creek School earlier this month.

Jay Wesley Ellison, 28, of King Court, was charged with the misdemeanor today, according to the Lancaster County district attorney's office.

Ellison told police he put the Springfield 9mm pistol, loaded with a full, 13-round magazine, in his 9-year-old son's book bag for temporary storage but forgot to remove it when he returned home.

The boy took the book bag to school on Sept. 14. At least one student was shown the gun, but police do not believe the gun was removed from the bag or that there were threats to use it.

The district attorney's office said there is no indication that Ellison had criminal intent. He legally owns the gun.

Police do not know whether or not the safety was on while the gun was in the book bag. When they gained custody of the gun, a bullet wasn't in the chamber.

"Police have the gun in their possession until the duration of the case," district attorney office's spokesman Brett Hambright said.

Whether or not Ellison will lose his gun license will be discussed in court, he said.

"Placing a loaded gun in a 9-year-old’s school bag and leaving it there for him to take to school certainly placed a number of children and others at risk, and we are fortunate that no one was injured or worse," Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman said in a statement Wednesday.

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“We appreciate the cooperation we received from the school and everyone involved, including Mr. Ellison," he said.

The investigation started on the evening of Sept. 14. when police were contacted by a district parent who reported their child heard about another student having a gun at school that day.

Police found a second student who said he was shown the gun inside the book bag in a school hallway. The student with the gun told this student his father put the gun in the bag and forgot to take it out.

Police contacted school officials and conducted a search of the school. Bear Creek School, located at 1459 Sheaffer Road, houses children in the fourth through sixth grades.

Police interviewed Ellison, who told police he had the gun in a pickup truck that he parked at his parents' home because his driveway was being resealed.

Ellison said he put the gun in the book bag and walked home with it instead of leaving it in the truck. He told police he forgot to take the gun out of the book bag when he got home.

Northwest Regional police Officer Adam Shope filed the charge with approval from Assistant District Attorney Trista Boyd. Reckless endangerment is defined as conduct which places or may place another person in danger of death or serious bodily injury.

Elizabethtown Area School District spokesman Troy Portser said Thursday that the district has no further comment and stands by its statement released on Sept. 15.

The statement from Superintendent Michele Balliet said the weapon "was brought to school without any intent to harm." It also said weapons violations carry “severe consequences” and that the school would take “appropriate disciplinary action.”