HALL COUNTY, Ga. — The parents of an eight-year-old who brought a gun to his elementary school are now facing charges from their local sheriff’s office.
Channel 2’s Berndt Petersen was at Myers Elementary School on Thursday, when Hall County deputies responded to reports of a boy with a loaded handgun at the school.
On Monday, the sheriff’s office announced the boy’s parents were being charged following their investigation.
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The boy’s mother Heathery Thuy Rodriguez, 31 of Gainesville, was arrested by members of the Hall County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday after deputies investigated the incident.
Deputies said the boy’s father Cristian Ruben Rodriguez-Martinez, 31 of Gainesville, turned himself in at the county jail on Friday afternoon.
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Both parents face a charge of reckless conduct, a misdemeanor, for leaving the gun unsecured and accessible to their eight-year-old.
During their investigation, deputies learned the boy took the weapon from the console of his parents’ vehicle and took it to his room on Wednesday night, then brought it to school on Thursday morning.
The boy showed another student the gun and it was reported to a teacher. The school principal searched the boy, took the gun and reported it to the school resource office.
Officials said the handgun had a loaded magazine in it but no round was in the chamber.
Both parents were awarded $1,300 bonds and were released from jail.
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