Staff found a handgun in the backpack of a 6-year-old student at a Rocky Mount, North Carolina, elementary school, according to police.  

School administrators at Fairview Elementary alerted police to the gun just after 10:45 a.m. Tuesday, police said.

The 9mm gun was unloaded, Rocky Mount Police said in a statement.  

"The situation that occurred today should be a reminder to all gun owners to secure their weapons in a safe manner so that minors cannot possess them," Rocky Mount Police Chief Robert Hassell said. "This was a preventable situation."  

"Fortunately, a major event was avoided because staff members of the school and our officers followed proper protocols," Hassell said.  

Police said the child never took the gun from the backpack and did not make any threats. Police are investigating how the child got the gun, the department said.  

In early January, a 6-year-old in Newport News, Virginia, shot and wounded a teacher. School administrators in that case have faced questions, and the superintendent resigned after it came out that school staff had several reports of the child having a gun before the shooting. 

School administrators with the Wake County Public School System said a student at Wendell Middle School was also found with a gun Tuesday.

"A thorough investigation by law enforcement and WCPSS Security has revealed that the student did not mean to bring harm to our school, but instead was showing the weapon to classmates. There is no indication that anyone was threatened," Principal Catherine Trudell said in a letter to parents.

She said students reported the gun to school staff and it was "quickly confiscated."