A man has been charged after a Virginia 6-year-old went to school with a gun in their backpack and authorities think the child had no idea the gun was even there.
Drakar L. Rawlings, 31, has been charged with one count of allowing access to firearms by children, one count of abuse and neglect of children and two counts of possession or transportation of firearms, firearms ammunition, stun weapons, explosives or concealed weapons by convicted felons, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office .
The nature of the relationship between the suspect and the child was not immediately clear and the investigation is ongoing, according to the sheriff’s office.
School employee found gun in backpack
It was not immediately clear who was representing Rawlings in court either.
The incident happened on Sept. 16 at Orange Elementary School in Orange, Virginia, about 29 miles northeast of Charlottesville, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday afternoon.
An instructional assistant found the gun in the 6-year-old’s backpack, then a school administrator and a school resource officer took the backpack, the sheriff’s office said when the incident first happened.