WINDERMERE, Fla. — The parent of a student discovered a loaded gun in a holster lying in the hallway of a school last week, the Windermere Police Department said.
Police said the holstered gun had fallen off the ankle of a church worker Friday at First Baptist Church Windermere's Child Development Center.
A woman, who asked to not be identified, said she pulled her 4-year-old son out of the school because of the incident.
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"We're lucky nothing bad happened," she said. "This isn't about politics. It's not about gun laws. It's about someone carrying it and not being responsible."
Police said the church's facility manager, Marcellus "Mark" Williamson, 79, was unaware that the holster had become unfastened.
The Rev. Russell Slack, the church's administrator, told Channel 9 on Wednesday that a tragedy would have been horrendous.
"(What) I'm confident in is that we have procedures in place," he said. "There would never be a child alone in a hallway. There would always (have) been adults."
Coming up at 4:45. You’ll hear from a local mom upset with how the Windermere First Baptist Church Child Development Center responded after a parent found a gun in the hallway. @WFTV pic.twitter.com/skuMnl5ylb
— Cierra Putman WFTV (@CPutman_WFTV) January 16, 2019
That was not enough to assuage the concerns of the woman, who said Williamson is still employed by the church. %
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"You're not doing a gun sweep prior to them walking in line, so how do you know my child couldn't get to it?" she said.
Investigators said Williamson has a concealed weapon license and that state law does not forbid guns from being taken to pre-schools or day care centers.
The church said it does not allow guns on campus and that it has told its employees so.
"We're taking it seriously -- not only to make sure it's not happening again, but to look at our policies and procedures," Slack said.
Good news no child was hurt. The gun belonged to the church’s facility manager. Just finished talking to the church administrator about how this happened & what was done about it . @wftv pic.twitter.com/KFvpze4nbk
— Cierra Putman WFTV (@CPutman_WFTV) January 16, 2019
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