TOLEDO, Ohio -
The owner of My First Days Day Care in Toledo says she's still shaken up after a 5-year-old boy brought an unloaded gun to her center on Tuesday.
Toledo police say the west Toledo boy found the unloaded weapon in the grass at his apartment complex.
"I am very glad it wasn't loaded, that it didn't go off, and that he didn't get a chance to play with in the center, and the children did not see it," Kashaundra Besteda says.
Police say the little boy, who lives in Northtowne Village Apartments, found the gun while playing outside.
A police report says the boy thought the gun was a cigarette lighter.
Investigators say the 5-year-old told his mother he found a cigarette lighter shaped like a gun. She didn't inspect it. The boy put it in his pocket and took it to day care.
"We were getting ready for nap time, and he attempted to pull something out of his pocket. Immediately we noticed it was a gun," Besteda says. "We thought it was a fake gun, we thought it was a toy gun, and we told him, ‘Bring that here! You are not allowed to play with toy guns here!"
The owner says everyone quickly realized the gun was real. They checked to make sure it wasn't loaded, locked it up and called police.
Sergeant Joe Heffernan says he's thankful no one got hurt.
"It's a heads up to other people in the community," he says. "You have to really be careful with guns or things that resemble guns"
The owner says letters were sent home to parents about the incident. The day care also implemented a new safety policy, banning any outside toys at the day care.
"We usually help the parent take their children's things off, hang up their garments, but now we will check everything that comes through the door, their book bags and diaper bags, to make sure nothing like this can ever happen again."
The owner says the 5-year-old boy will not be allowed back at the day care.
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2012 WorldNow and WTVG. All Rights Reserved.
