Gun spotted by TSA workers inside stuffed animals at T.F. Green - ABC6 - Providence, RI and New Bedford, MA News, Weather

Gun spotted by TSA workers inside stuffed animals at T. F. Green Airport

Gun pieces found inside 3-stuffed animals during a screening at T. F. Green Airport is reportedly the result of a domestic dispute.

A father and his 4-year-old son were on their way to Detroit, when the gun components were found in their carry-on.

A TSA-spokesperson told ABC6 that after questioning the father about why his son's stuffed animals were filled with gun-parts, agents felt he was telling the truth when he told TSA agents that he had no idea, how they got there.

Although according to our sister station WCVB in Boston, it was the boy's mother who put the parts inside the stuffed animals.

After checking 3 stuffed animals from the 4 year old, TSA agents found a teddy bear packed with the main frame of a 40-caliber pistol, a stuffed rabbit filled with a magazine that was loaded with bullets and a firing pin, and a Mickey Mouse containing a slide release lever.

All together the pieces were enough to put together a functioning gun.

And even though the situation looked bad for the father, investigators tell us, that it wasn't that cut and dry.

 "It appears to be the result of a domestic dispute. It was investigated by the Rhode Island Airport Police, the FBI, and the Rhode Island State Police, and it was determined that there was no threat to air safety at anytime." said Chief Leo Messier of the Rhode Island Airport Police.

Investigators aren't giving out many specifics, but our sister station in Boston, WCVB, is reporting it was the young boy's mother, who put the gun-parts inside the toys, as part of an on-going child custody dispute with the 4 year old's father.

Based on the father's answers and his shock over what he and the screeners were seeing, investigators believe that the father was telling the truth, when he said that he had no idea the gun-parts were inside the toys.

And that is the reason authorities let the father and son, travel to Detroit, as planned.

"The father and son were released and allowed to travel to their destination." said Chief Messier.