By Jackie Seabolt and Beth Cassidy
Enterprise Record

Three people were charged this week – one child and two parents – after a loaded handgun was brought to Cooleemee Elementary School.
The gun was found Monday around 2:45 p.m.
Davie Schools Superintendent Dr. Darrin Hartness said a teacher helping a young student organize his bookbag in the afternoon found a small loaded handgun in the bookbag. “The teacher immediately took the student and bookbag to the office,” Hartness said, “and a parent and law enforcement were called.
“Our teachers are trained to deal with issues like this, and at no point do we feel that any student or staff member was in danger. We are handling the disciplinary actions, and law enforcement is dealing with it from their side.”
Hartness did not give the age of the student, but said it was a young male.
A ConnectEd call went out to parents of all students at the school Monday night.
Cooleemee Police Chief Bobby West said that his department responded to Cooleemee Elementary following the discovery of the gun.
“The third grade teacher who found the gun could not tell if it was real or not,” West said. “It was a .25 caliber semi-automatic handgun with three bullets in the magazine. There were no bullets in the chamber”
West said the teacher found the weapon because there were accusations against the 9-year-old that he may have had something that …