Florida Deputy’s 10-Year-Old Son Allegedly Sold Deceased Father's Gun to Another 10-Year-Old

The deputy has been placed on administrative leave, pending an administrative inquiry according to the Hendry County Sheriff’s Office

A Florida elementary school was locked down last week after a deputy’s 10-year-old son allegedly sold his deceased father’s handgun to another 10-year-old.

Deputies who work with the child’s mother seized ammunition from the backpack of the other 10-year-old, the Hendry County Sheriff’s Office confirmed in a series of statements on Facebook.

Investigators learned of “the exchange of a firearm” allegedly between the 10-year-olds at Country Oaks Elementary School in Port LaBelle, Fla. the morning of March 27, after receiving “a call about a suspicious incident,” according to the sheriff’s office.

After interviewing elementary students at the school, deputies arrested both of the 10-year-olds, who they identified by name. PEOPLE is withholding the children’s names, based on their ages.

The incident had started more than a month earlier, according to investigators.

In early February, the deputy’s son allegedly “agreed to exchange a handgun” for $300, according to the sheriff’s office.

Investigators allegedly located that handgun in the other 10-year-old’s backyard “under a shed,” Wednesday per the sheriff's office. While confiscating the firearm, investigators allegedly “also located a baggie of marijuana weighing approximately 74 grams,” per the sheriff’s office.

The deputy’s son was arrested Wednesday and charged with selling of a firearm to a minor, unlawful possession of a firearm by a minor, possession of a firearm on school property and grand theft of a firearm, according to the sheriff’s office.

The other 10-year-old was arrested and charged with sale/purchase of a firearm by a minor, unlawful possession of a firearm by a minor, possession of a firearm on school property and possession of marijuana over 20 grams.

It's not clear if either suspect has entered a plea or retained an attorney.

In a Facebook statement Wednesday, noting the elementary school’s “brief lock down,” Steve Sheriff Whidden said it was an “isolated incident.”

“I want to assure everyone that at no time were the students, staff and school administration in danger,” the sheriff said in the statement.

The two elementary school students were placed in the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice.

The sheriff’s office released the photograph of the 10-year-old who allegedly purchased the gun to local outlet, NBC2. The outlet reported that the deputy’s son is exempt from a mugshot because his mother is a law enforcement officer.

The child’s mother – who has not been publicly named – was placed on Administrative Leave pending an administrative inquiry, per the sheriff’s office.

PEOPLE identified a deputy with the child’s last name, who was listed as a law enforcement officer in a recent sheriff’s office Facebook post.

PEOPLE reached out to the Hendry County Sheriff’s Office Monday morning, naming the deputy, requesting an update on their internal investigation and any potential criminal charges pending against her, as well as for a comment on the disparity between the released mugshots of juveniles within its office.

The sheriff’s office did not respond by the time of publication.

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PEOPLE also reached out to listed numbers associated with the deputy, requesting comment but did not hear back by the time of publication.

In Florida, anyone who leaves a loaded firearm on their premises that is not securely locked with a trigger lock, locked box or other secure area, can be held criminally liable if a child obtains that gun and either possesses it in a public place or uses it in a threatening manner, per the Giffords Law  Center.

It was unclear if the gun, which was brought onto the elementary school property, was loaded at the time of the exchange.

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