SHICKSHINNY, Pa. – An elementary school teacher whose 11-year-old son twice brought a loaded handgun to school faces felony child endangerment charges.
Linnea C. Holdren, 43, and her son were both suspended from Hunlock Creek Elementary School, and the boy faces an expulsion hearing later this month, officials said.
According to a police affidavit, Holdren told officers who offered to give her a gun lock: "I can't lock up his guns. They belong to him, and he has a right to use them whenever he wants to use them."
The boy showed the loaded gun to other students during recess on Nov. 29, authorities said. Police were called after another student reported the gun.
The boy also brought the gun to school on Nov. 23 and showed another boy how to load it in a bathroom, police said.
Police believe Holdren prompted her son, during a police interview at the school, to falsely state that he had been target shooting before school and forgot he had the gun with him.
Holdren was arraigned Wednesday. She could lose her teacher's license if convicted.
Holdren could not be located for comment Sunday. There was no phone listing for a Linnea Holdren in the Shickshinny area, a community of about 1,000 residents in northeast Pennsylvania about 15 miles southwest of Wilkes-Barre.
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