N.Y. second grader brings handgun to school

The Associated Press

NEW YORK — A second grader brought an unloaded gun to his Queens elementary school, and his mother and 14-year-old brother were arrested, authorities said.

The 7-year-old boy brought the .38-caliber handgun to Public School 63 in Ozone Park on Thursday, police said.

A teacher reportedly was able to get the gun from the boy after hearing from other students that he was showing it off.

Police arrested the boy's mother, 35-year-old Andrea Clarke, a traffic enforcement agent, on charges of endangering the welfare of a child. She was awaiting arraignment on Friday, said Kevin Ryan, a spokesman for the Queens district attorney.

The district attorney's office said the name of her lawyer was not immediately available; her home number could not be ascertained.

Clarke's 14-year-old son was charged as a juvenile with reckless endangerment because the gun belonged to him, said Ryan. His case was being handled by family court.

Ryan said the teen got the gun from someone else, and the mother told him to get rid of it, but he did not.