LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The boy student reportedly pulled a .22 caliber gun but was stopped quickly. Granite School District spokesperson Ben Horsley says that the boy was "apprehended in 30 to 45 seconds and immediately brought down to the office and the police were on site within five to 10 minutes."

The incident was at first kept under the radar. Granite School District officials say students didn't notify teachers about the weapon until 3 p.m.

"Once the teacher knew there was a weapon in the classroom, the student was apprehended in 30 to 45 seconds and immediately brought down to the office and the police were on site within five to 10 minutes," Horsley said.

Granite School District sent a pre-recorded message via telephone to the parents of West Kearns Elementary students at 5:30 p.m.

"There was no lockdown," parent John Klaus explained. "No one was called. Nothing was done. And then we had to hear it from our kids."

One parent said she was going to keep her child home from school that day. "I don't want to have to be at work or anything like that, and worry about my child possibly not coming home, especially before Christmas," she told reporters.

Horsley says that parental concern was understandable. "We are going to be working with those families, making sure they are comfortable with the steps and actions the school is taking," he insisted.

The Granite District Police Department booked the 11-year-old suspect on three counts of aggravated assault.

In a chilling twist, the boy allegedly told other students his parents encouraged him to bring a gun to school for protection following the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Police were investigating to determine what the boy's parents' involvement may have been in the incident.

School administrators maintain that they didn't lock the school down because the gun was taken into possession quickly and they felt a lockdown would have scared the students.

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