Man charged after child had 2 handguns at elementary school in East Granby

EAST GRANBY, CT (WFSB) – A man is facing charges after a child was in possession of two handguns at an East Granby elementary school.

State troopers and East Granby officers responded to Carl Allgrove Elementary School around 11:32 a.m. for the report of a student in possession of weapons, authorities said.

School staff found the handguns in the student’s belongings, police said. The weapons were secured immediately.

Nobody was hurt and state police said there is no threat to the public.

Upon investigation, it was discovered Kenneth Pariaug, 32, of East Granby, owns the handguns.

State police did not specify the relation between the child and Pariaug.

Parents say they are thankful everybody is okay, but also say they weren’t notified about the situation until hours later and still don’t have the details they’re looking for.

“We weren’t notified right away. The rumor mill starts pumping things out. Apparently it happened at 11 AM, they never went into lockdown and we have procedures for just this reason alone,” said Danielle Lawrence, Parent, Allgrove Elementary.

Lawrence has a first grader at the school and she’s filled with questions that the school hasn’t given any answers to.

“They said the child never talked about the guns, never showed them to anyone but how would the school have known to check the backpack,” said Lawrence. “They want to know why we didn’t go into lockdown. Why weren’t we notified right away when the incident occurred. I know privacy is a thing but we have kids in the school, Wednesday is the anniversary of sandy hook. This is sort of a big deal.”

She’d also like to know what kind of parent puts their kid, and others, in harm’s way.

Until she gets those answers, she’s not sure if she wants to send her daughter back to school.

“They’re 6 to 7 years old, they’re not packing their own backpacks in the morning, at least I know their parents are helping them. I go through her stuff making sure she has everything so the fact he was able to get out of the house with two guns in his bag is really alarming,” Lawrence added.

Pariaug was arrested and charged with reckless endangerment and risk of injury to a minor, state police said.

He was released on a $10,000 bond and is due in Hartford Superior Court on December 22.

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