Investigations reveal that a firefighter's gun was found in a school in Rockford, Michigan

A parent recently found a gun in the parking lot of a school in Michigan. This sparked concern and prompted a letter to the parents. But now police know where the gun came from, news agencies reported.

The gun belonged to a Rockford city firefighter who lost the weapon while dropping his child off at school, the Rockford Department of Public Safety said in a Sept. 5 press release.

According to investigators, the firefighter placed the gun on the roof of his vehicle on the morning of Sept. 3 and was in such a “rush to drop his child off at school” that he forgot about it. He drove the entire way to school with the gun on the roof, but it eventually slipped and clattered to the ground as he pulled into a school parking lot to drop off his child, police said.

Someone found the gun that same morning, locked it in his vehicle and called a Kent County Sheriff's Office deputy, who then notified Rockford police, the press release said.

It was another parent who discovered the gun, WZZM reported.

Although no one was injured, the incident prompted the Rockford Public Schools superintendent to write a letter to parents, WXMI reported.

The firefighter was not on duty at the time of the incident and was not driving a city vehicle, police said.

“The employee is deeply remorseful for his mistake and we are grateful to the citizen who confiscated the weapon and alerted the police,” the press release said.

The Kent County District Attorney's Office is reviewing the investigation and will decide what charges will be filed.

Rockford is located about 15 miles northeast of Grand Rapids.

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