On Monday, a gun was brought to Newington Elementary in Summerville. Authorities believe the gun was not brought to school with malicious intent. According to the child’s mother, she accidentally put it in the backpack when carrying a lot of items at once. Dorchester County School District 2 says the student responded the right way by telling a teacher as soon as he found it, but parents are still worried that the gun made it on campus in the first place.

One mother, Shannon Robb, says, “That is really scary to me. Like I said, we have guns, we teach our children gun safety, but our guns are locked up at all times.”

Robb asked for her face not to be shown on camera, and told News 2 that her family moved to Summerville specifically to send her daughter to Newington Elementary when she starts Kindergarten next year. In light of this incident, Robb is changing her mind.

She says, “The potential for this to be monumental was absolutely there, and that’s what’s infuriating to my husband and I both, that we just see the potential for where this could’ve gone.”

Parents are also worried because this isn’t the first time this has happened at Newington, another child brought an air-soft gun to school just one week before.

Mike Turner, Safety and Security Coordinator for DD2, says, “It’s not as frequent as it feels, but when you get them in little clusters like this it does concern the parents, and I understand their concern as a parent myself. No one wants this to occur.”

DD2 says parents need to be the first line of defense.

Turner says, “We need to partner with the guardians really so they do understand, whether it’s a toy that looks like a real object or it’s an actual functioning weapon, they need to make sure that their child doesn’t leave home with things that aren’t allowed on campus.”

DD2 says if parents have concerns, they should call the principal or the district and ask questions. Robb says nothing they can say will change her mind from homeschooling to keep her daughter safe.

Robb says, “Their words aren’t going to mean much to me. I need to see action. I need to see either metal detectors on the outside of the schools or maybe backpack searches in homeroom classes. There needs to be action.”

DD2 also says one way you can keep you children safe is by teaching them to report any suspicious activity, like if they hear other students talking about a gun or see one in a backpack. The district sent a phone message out to all Newington Elementary parents on Monday afternoon. The contact information they use is provided by parents when they register the child for school, so if a parent did not receive the message, it is likely the school does not have a current phone number. DD2 recommends contacting the school and updating that information immediately.