A Florida woman was arrested and charged with possession of a weapon after authorities say a gun fell from the hood of her car while at an elementary school parking lot. The Palm Beach Post reports that on June 16, a parent was dropping off her child at Pleasant City Elementary School in West Palm Beach when she discovered a gun in the parking lot.
The parent used a towel to move the gun to the grass, concealing it before calling 911. As she waited for the police to arrive, 22-year-old Brianna Ballard drove up and asked the parent if she found anything in the parking lot, authorities say.
When she told Ballard that she had found a gun, it was reported that she exited her vehicle, picked up the gun and went back to her car. As she was doing so, the parent seemingly asked her why was she picking up the gun, and Ballard told her that it was hers before driving off.
Officers with the West Palm Beach Police Department later arrived at Pleasant City Elementary School on Spruce Avenue and Twenty-Third Street and conducted an investigation. It was soon discovered that Ballard, who works as a security guard, was the suspect they were looking for and that she had children who attended a Head Start program at the elementary school.
Woman arrested, accused of possessing a gun at local school https://t.co/WXXPC01mhC pic.twitter.com/823OWA1lTE
— WPBF 25 News (@WPBF25News) August 18, 2017
A Palm Beach County School District police officer got in contact with Ballard, and she admitted that the gun found at Pleasant City Elementary School was hers. She went on to say that she keeps the gun under the hood of her vehicle, and as she was in the midst of dropping off her children, it fell in the parking lot.
Ballard also admitted that she returned to the school to retrieve the gun before police officials arrived at the scene.
It was not immediately made clear why Ballard was arrested on Thursday in lieu of the day of the incident. However, she was arrested and booked into the Palm Beach County Jail.
Ballard is facing charges of possession of a weapon on school property, and she is being held instead of a $1,000 bond.
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