A four-year-old boy has brought a loaded handgun into his elementary school in Amite City, Louisiana, authorities say.

Amite Police Chief Jerry Trabona said that the boy brought a loaded 22-caliber pistol to Amite Elementary Magnet School on Friday.

The boy saw the gun in his parents’ car, stuffed the pistol into his book bag and then took it to the school, Trabona added.

He showed it to a girl, who then informed a teacher of the matter, the police chief said, noting that school officials called in the authorities immediately.

Trabona said the boy was the youngest person he had ever seen with a gun in his 36 years working in the police department.

He said that his parents, 30-year-old Kenisha Steptoe and 36-year-old Kenji Steptoe, were arrested on charges of contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile.

According to police, the Department of Children and Family Services were contacted to investigate the child's situation.

The incident came after a 20-year-old gunman opened fire at a community college in Oregon, killing 10 people and injuring 7 others on October 1.

Also on December 14, 2012, twenty children and six adults were fatally shot by a gunman -- who later killed himself -- at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in the town of Newtown in the US state of Connecticut.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), firearms are the cause of death for more than 33,000 people in the United States every year, a number that includes accidental discharge, murder and suicides, which are on the increase.

By Press TV