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Kindergarten students find loaded gun on nature walk in Union County

INDIAN TRAIL, N.C. — Kindergarten students who were on a nature walk Tuesday found a loaded handgun, the Union County Sheriff’s Office said.

The children made the discovery in the wooded area near the bus parking lot at Poplin Elementary School in Indian Trail.

[ALSO READ: 13-year-old accused of bringing gun to west Charlotte charter school]

Deputies said the students were on a nature walk, checking on bluebird boxes when they saw the gun on the ground. The students told their teacher, who notified administrators.

The school resource officer secured the area until crime scene investigators arrived and recovered the gun, deputies said.

They said no students or staff handled the gun and there were no injuries.

“The kids are the real heroes in this,” said Tony Underwood, with the Union County Sheriff’s Office. “They handled it exactly as you would hope.”

Deputies are investigating where the gun came from and whether it might be related to recent property crime that occurred near the school.