The 17-year-old removed the gun from between the front seats of his father’s car while being taken to school yesterday morning, Afrikaans daily Beeld reported today.

Warrant Officer Hero Gumbu said the youth’s father, a brigadier in the crime intelligence unit, did not know how it happened.

“At school, the teacher saw the gun. The son ran away from the teacher. The teacher and school security guards chased him. While he was running, the boy threw the gun into a lapa.

“The security guards picked it up, caught the boy and called the police,” Gumbu told Beeld.

He said the teenager was arrested for illegal possession of a firearm and was released into the custody of his mother. His father was arrested for negligence and was released on a warning.