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Costa Rica’s National Police confiscated a loaded .22-caliber revolver Monday from a 7-year-old boy at the MarÃa Leal grade school in Santa Cruz, in the northwestern province of Guanacaste.
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According to the Security Ministry, the first-grader was carrying the gun inside his backpack when a teacher noticed a strange bulge in the bag.
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The teacher halted the child, searched his bag and called the police. Officials said the pistol was loaded with two bullets.
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The boy’s grandmother, who arrived at the school after authorities notified her of the situation, denied that the gun belonged to anyone in the family.
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The boy was released to his family and the case has been presented to the Santa Cruz prosecuting attorney, who will determine if further action is necessary.
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Henry Quesada, principal of the MarÃa Leal school, said officials from the Education Ministry have been instructing teachers at his school to intervene when they suspect a child is armed.
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The ministry presented the school with a series of weapon-intervention protocols at the beginning of the school year, Quesada said.
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Costa Rica’s Education Ministry has come under pressure recently to tackle school violence and misconduct after a 17-year-old male student shot and killed his school’s principal last month at a private high school in Heredia, north of San José.