No charges in Menomonee Falls school handgun incident

No charges will be filed in an incident in which a Menomonee Falls elementary school student accidentally brought a loaded handgun to school.

An investigation into the incident Friday at Shady Lane Elementary School revealed no evidence that the child knew the gun was in a backpack in which a teacher discovered the weapon, according to a statement Wednesday from the Waukesha County District Attorney’s Office.

The teacher found the gun at the end of the school day while placing something in the backpack to be taken home and finding the bag to be unusually heavy, Menomonee Falls School Superintendent Pat Greco said Monday.

According to the statement from the district attorney’s office:

Friday morning, the child’s father dropped his vehicle off at a repair shop and his girlfriend followed him in a separate vehicle.

While the father was inside the shop, his girlfriend was gathering his belongings from his vehicle, including the gun, which the father is legally permitted to possess.

The girlfriend placed the firearm in a black nylon backpack she believed belonged to the father, but the bag actually belonged to the child.

The father had placed the child’s backpack in his vehicle Thursday and his girlfriend didn’t know that it looked like the backpack he normally carries.

After leaving his vehicle at the repair shop, the father dropped his child off at school with the black backpack, not knowing the firearm was inside the bag.

“The conduct here is not criminal but a mistake,” the statement from the district attorney’s office said.

“It serves as a good reminder to those who possess firearms to be diligent and cautious in handling them at all times. We should all be thankful no one was hurt.”