A fourth grade student was charged with two felony counts, accused of taking a firearm to school in August, an Arizona prosecutor's office announced Monday.
The child, 9, has been charged with one count of a minor in possession of a firearm and one count of interference with or disruption of an educational institution, the Pinal County Attorney's Office said. The student was not publicly identified.
The charges stem from an incident Aug. 25 at Legacy Traditional School. The Queen Creek Police Department said it responded to the school after it got reports that a student had a firearm, NBC affiliate KPNX of Phoenix reported at the time.
Police said another student had observed a classmate with a bullet the day before, and officers found a gun in the child's backpack when they responded to the school the next morning, KPNX reported.
Pinal County Attorney Kent Volkmer declined to press charges against the 9-year-old's parents, despite recommendations from police, because there was "no reasonable likelihood of conviction."
“Given the inherent danger involved with a gun being on a school campus, PCAO must take this seriously,” Volkmer said in a statement Monday.
“However, it is important to appreciate that the juvenile justice system is focused on rehabilitation and correcting behavior and that will be our focus.”
It's unclear whether the family has retained an attorney. The Pinal County Attorney's Office had no additional information about representation.