The mother of a 4-year-old pre-kindergarten student who took a loaded gun in his backpack to a South Texas elementary school has been charged by authorities.
The Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office has charged the woman with making a firearm accessible to a child -- a class C misdemeanor punishable by up to a $500 fine.
Officials with the La Joya Independent School District say a teacher at Rosendo Benavides Elementary School in Sullivan City confiscated the weapon Thursday and kept it safe until police arrived.
Hidalgo County sheriff's spokesperson J.P. Rodriguez says the boy's parents legally owned the pistol but had not properly secured it.
La Joya school district spokesman Eden Ramirez said officials have not decided what disciplinary action might be taken against the boy.
