SWANSEA, MASS. (WHDH) - A man and a woman have been charged with multiple firearms offenses following a search warrant execution that stemmed from a report that a second-grade student may have brought a gun to Mark G. Hoyle Elementary School last week, Swansea police announced Wednesday.
Christopher Spangler, 51, of Swansea, and Heather Spangler, 43, of Swansea were summonsed for arraignment after police said they located located five unregistered, unsecured guns in their home Tuesday.
Officials at the Mark G. Hoyle Elementary School said they received information over the weekend that a student “may have brought a handgun” to the school and “showed it to at least two other students.” School officials said they began investigating Monday, then later contacted police.
Police said they first became aware of the allegation Monday night, and officers brought a K-9 unit trained in firearms and ammunition detection to the school Tuesday to conduct a search of the building. They said no weapons or ammunition were found.
As a result of the investigation, Swansea police said they obtained a warrant to search a house in the town Tuesday afternoon. During the search, officers said they found five firearms and ammunition inside the home. According to officials, the firearms “were not registered and were stored unsecured,” and no one residing in the home was found to be in possession of a valid Firearms Identification Card.
Manny Miranda said his grandson is friends with a child who allegedly saw the gun and reported it last week.
“I’ve been a gun owner since I was 21, and there hasn’t been one day since I haven’t had that thing secured because I have four grandchildren and see too many stupid stories like this,” Miranda said. “I don’t know how this got by anybody, but even the parent not to see anything over the weekend appear,” Miranda said. “I think they should have stepped up a little sooner and said ‘hey what’s going on? I reported this and no one is doing anything.’ There was a complete breakdown in communication. There’s no reason for it.”
In a statement to familes, Superintendent of Schools Scott Holcomb wrote in part, “…we recognize that police should have been notified immediately once the report was received. The district will conduct a full review of the response to this situation to determine the procedures that should be strengthened and whether additional staff training or discipline is necessary.”
Police said there were no threats made against the school community.
Christopher and Heather have both since been charged with five counts of Improper Storage of a Firearm Near a Minor, five counts of Possession of a Firearm Without a Firearms Identification Card, Possession of Ammunition Without a Firearms Identification Card, and two counts of Reckless Endangerment of a Child.
They are expected to be arraigned April 22 in Fall River District Court.
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