SARATOGA SPRINGS, Utah — Two children made a startling discovering on the final day of the school year.
On their walk to the bus stop, they came across a box in the road. When they opened it, they found a gun inside.
“When I saw it, I just freaked out,” said 9-year-old Tungsten Seegmiller, one of the kids who found the box.
Tungsten and his friend Ruthie Johnson did what they were taught to do when coming across an unexpected weapon.
“I hurried and ran to my house and told my mom,” Seegmiller said.
“You have to tell an adult right away, so then you don’t get hurt,” Johnson added.
Saratoga Springs police said the gun found by the kids was one of two, unloaded guns discovered on different streets in the Lake Mountain Estates neighborhood.
“I felt scared and worried there was a criminal in our neighborhood,” Johnson said.
But police don’t believe the firearms were abandoned by anyone with ill intentions.
“The owners were likely target shooting in the area, set the guns on their vehicle, and drove off and forgotten where they had placed them,” said David Johnson, a spokesperson for Saratoga Springs.
The incident is a reminder to gun owners on the importance of securing their firearms.
“Whoever lost this is very irresponsible,” said Anne Johnson, Ruthie’s mother.
Anne is thankful the kids knew what to do and didn’t play with the gun.
“We’ve had a lot of discussions about guns, but we never expected it to be in the middle of the road,” Anne Johnson said.
She hopes other parents have that discussion with their kids because it could end up saving a life.
“If I opened the gun, there is a load thing on there and there could be a bullet inside and if I lift it up, it could shoot,” Seegmiller said.
Police are asking the owner of the guns to come forward to claim their property.
