7-Year-Old Brought Gun To Boston School: Police

BOSTON, MA — Boston police are investigating how a 7-year-old student ended up taking a gun to their Dorchester school this week.

Police went to the Up Academy Holland School along Olney Avenue Thursday afternoon on a report of a student with a gun. They confiscated the loaded gun from the student, and are now searching for whomever allowed the child to access the weapon.

"The person responsible for allowing access to this weapon is going to be held accountable," Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said. "No child should be near a weapon, much less directly endangered at such a young age."

The incident — which Boston Superintendent Mary Skipper called "truly devastating" — comes after a rash of gun violence in Dorchester and other nearby neighborhoods. Since Saturday alone, four people have been shot and killed. The latest fatal shooting happened Tuesday night when a barber was killed in a shop along Washington Street.

"When a young person gets access to a gun out of accessibility, we really have to ask ourselves, how does this happen?" Skipper said.