Two 10-year-old boys have been arrested after one tried to sell his late father’s gun to an elementary school classmate, according to local police.
Carlos Santos Madrid and Jaiden Diego Escobedo were arrested after it was learned that Escobedo had taken a gun to Madrid for $300.
Country Oaks Elementary School was briefly placed on lockdown after ammunition was discovered in Madrid’s backpack on Wednesday.
After interviewing the two students, Hendry County Sheriff’s Police arrested them both.
According authoritiesThe two elementary school students agreed to sell Escabo’s late father’s gun in exchange for $300 in February.
Carlos Santos Madrid and Jaiden Diego Escobedo, 10, were arrested after it was learned that Escobedo had brought a gun to Madrid for $300 (pictured: Country Oaks Elementary School).
Country Oaks Elementary School was briefly locked down after ammunition was discovered in Madrid’s (pictured) backpack on Wednesday.
According to the sheriff, the firearm was found under a shed in Madrid’s backyard, along with a 74-gram bag of marijuana.
Madrid, who purchased the gun, was arrested and charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a minor and possession of a firearm on school property.
He also faces charges of purchasing a firearm as a minor, as well as possession of marijuana weighing more than 20 grams.
Escobedo was also arrested and faces a number of charges, including sale of a firearm to a minor and unlawful possession of a firearm by a minor.
The 10-year-old boy has also been charged with possession of a firearm on school property and grand theft of a firearm.
Escobedo’s mother was a deputy with the Hendry County Sheriff’s Office, but has since been placed on administrative leave since the incident.
Both minors are currently in the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice.
This comes shortly after it was revealed that firearms have been the leading cause of death in children and teenagers in the US since 2020.
The heartbreaking numbers have increased dramatically since 2018, according to the CDC’s WONDER database.
In 2019, 1,732 children under the age of 18 were killed by firearms. For 2021, this figure increased to 2,590, the Pew Research Center reports.
The firearm was found under a shed in Madrid’s backyard (pictured), along with a 74-gram bag of marijuana, according to the sheriff.
Escobedo’s mother was a deputy with the Hendry County Sheriff’s Office, but has since been placed on administrative leave since the incident.
In 2021, there were 11,078 child and adolescent suicides, more than any other year since 1999.
Firearm-related deaths also accounted for a staggering 19 percent of child deaths in 2021, more than car accidents and cancer.
Every day, 12 children die as a result of gun violence in the United States, while another 32 are injured or shot, according to The Promise of Sandy Hook.
As of December 7, 2023, at least 40,167 had died from a firearm in the country in that year alone, according to the report. Gun violence archive reports.
Of those murdered, 1,306 were adolescents and 276 were children.