Children Find Gun in Playground

Ten-year-old Cambridge resident Steven D'Entremont has a few words of advice: "Always treat a gun like it's loaded."

D'Entremont and his nine-year-old friend Ryan Kelso were awarded badges and paperweights by the Cambridge Police Department Wednesday for their responsible actions when the two discovered a loaded 9mm gun in a Cambridge playground.

The two boys were playing at Sennott Park, on the corner of Prescott and Broadway streets, Monday morning when Kelso discovered the gun in some bushes which border the playground.

Kelso, who said he had never seen a gun before, called his friend over to look at it.

"I thought it was scary, at first," Kelso said.

D'Entremont, whose father has guns at home and who has fired a gun before, said that his experience with firearms helped him know how to handle the situation when his friend showed him the gun in the bushes.

"[Steven] told me to come over," D'Entremont said. "I touched [the gun] to make sure it was real. Then I called his mother over."

When Karen R. Kelso was called over to the bushes by her son, she said she thought they might have found a dead animal, but she never expected to see a loaded weapon.

After determining that the gun was not a toy, Karen Kelso took the boys across the street to a local Store 24 to call the police.

"There was only one other woman at the park, with her son, so I told her not to let her little boy go over there, and we went to the store," Karen Kelso said.

"There was a girl in the store that I knew and we called [the police department] from there," she said.

The police responded quickly to the telephone call, Karen Kelso said. "It took like two seconds for the police to come," she said.

The Kelso and D'Entremont families were informed that afternoon by Cambridge Police Detective Frank T. Pasquarello that the department wished to recognize the two boys for their responsible actions when they discovered the gun.

Pasquarello praised the two boys in a short ceremony at Sennott Park, after they were presented with Cambridge Police Department badges and paperweights.

"Imagine if someone didn't use the sense that these two boys did," Pasquarello said. "After all, the first instinct for young kids is to pick up the firearm and pull the trigger."

Pasquarello speculated that the weapon may have been hidden at the park after a fight between drug dealers, or after a robbery.

"Hypodermic needles have been found in this area, but never a gun," he said.

"There may be drug dealers in the park at night, even though the police do patrol the area."

Both boys said they knew not to play with the weapon because of lessons their parents had taught them. Kelso said that television also influenced his actions.

"I've seen [guns] on TV and how you're not supposed to play with them," he said. "If you ever see a gun, tell an adult."

D'Entremont said his parents had taught him to "always treat a gun like it's loaded and never play with it or wave it around."

Despite finding the loaded firearm at the playground, both boys said they still feel safe playing there.

"Guns aren't everywhere," D'Entremont said, "just in some places."