A five-year-old boy who found an illegal gun, took it to school and confessed his desire to shoot a friend he accused of stealing his 'girlfriend', has been sent for counselling.

THE WEEKEND STAR learnt that police from Westmoreland were summoned to a basic school in Top Lincoln in the parish, after the youngster showed the 9mm pistol to a teacher.

The boy reportedly found the weapon in bushes close to his home.

"This boy found the weapon and took it to school, luckily it was empty," Corporal Matthew Douglas said when contacted by THE WEEKEND STAR.

Reports are that on Monday the boy went to school with the weapon concealed in his schoolbag.

behaving perturbed

During lunch, he was talking with a teacher when he said he wanted to shoot his friend. A few days earlier he saw the boy sharing lunch with a girl people joked was his 'girlfriend'.

The teacher told the child not to say that. However, he reportedly continued behaving perturbed and spoke more about his girlfriend being stolen.

The conversation got even more serious when the child admitted to having the gun. Reports are that the teacher initially thought it was a joke but was shocked when the child went for his bag and told her to look inside.

When the WEEKEND STAR spoke to the teacher, after much prompting, she said she was frightened when she realised the boy was not joking.

"Frightened? You have no idea, frightened is an understatement...I had to call a male teacher to come hold the bag until the police came," she said.

In describing the 5-year-old boy she said: "he is a very bright student who is very quiet and attentive in class."

Since the incident, concern has surfaced that the boy and his family may be at risk. "In light of this recovery, we don't know who the weapon belongs to so we have to be keeping in close contact with the family in case they may be blamed or threatened by any criminal elements," a detective from the Area One police said.

The school's head teacher declined to comment and efforts to speak with the boy's mother were unsuccessful.