NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Metro police said a 6-year-old brought drugs to school Monday.
Police found seven grams of marijuana and two grams of rock and powder cocaine in the child's pockets.
The student at Tom Joy Elementary School went to the teacher to show her what he found at home.
The teacher immediately took the student to the principal's office.
The child is developmentally challenged. There are nine students in his classroom. Police said no other students came into contact with the drugs. It didn't appear that the drugs were disturbed. The school was placed on lockdown until dismissal Monday afternoon.
"We believe that she didn't know that the school was aware that he had the drugs on him," said Sgt. Anna-Maria Williams. "So she was trying to get to the school to get them off of him."
The child's 27-year-old mother, Arthia Burrows received drug and child endangerment charges Monday. Police also are searching for her brother, who is wanted for arrest. He hasn't been charged yet.
Police said the curious 6-year-old gave them all the information they needed to take down a known drug house in East Nashville.
He told police he had his mother's "smokes."
"Our crime suppression unit had gotten a drug complaint on them, that this was place where people could go to buy marijuana and other drugs," Williams said. "So our crime suppression unit had been working on it, but hadn't had enough information to get inside. So, we got lucky as far as being able to get them at the same time to take the drugs off the child."
Police said Burrows does not have a criminal record.
The Tennessee Department of Children's Services removed five children from the home. Even though Metro Schools has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to drugs, the child will not be expelled because he was not aware he was bringing drugs to school.