(09-16) 09:35 PDT FAIRFIELD -- An 11-year-old special-needs student brought a handgun to a library in Fairfield, and the child's mother was arrested after authorities searched the family's home and found "deplorable living conditions," police said.
It all started just before 5 p.m. Monday when police got a call from a parent whose child had been shown a handgun while at the library in the Cordelia area, Fairfield police said.
Officers went to the library and found another child with an unloaded, small-caliber handgun in a backpack, authorities said. The child, whose gender was not released but was described as having special needs, reported secretly taking the gun from a relative's house, police said.
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The child also reported firing the gun at home Sunday with another special-needs sibling, police said.
The child's mother, 55-year-old Cordetta Spellsruta, soon showed up at the library and was questioned by authorities, police said.
Authorities decided to check on the family's home to make sure it was safe. When they arrived, officers found "deplorable living conditions that were unsafe for children or adults," police said.
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Workers from Solano County Child Protective Services and adult protective services were called in, and the children were taken from the home, authorities said.
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A 92-year-old grandmother living at the home was also placed with a family in the Bay Area.
Spellsruta was arrested on suspicion of felony child endangerment and elder abuse and booked in the Solano County Jail in lieu of $53,333 bail.
Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky
