Thousands of children and teens are injured or killed by guns each year, according to government data. / Seth Perlman, AP He didn't know the gun was loaded.

He didn’t know the gun was loaded. The 14-year-old Massachusetts boy had recently found his mother’s handgun, which she kept hidden under her mattress for protection.

The Park R-3 Board of Education and the superintendent of schools, Dr. Richard Kastendieck, met on Monday afternoon with the five candidates applying to fill the vacancy left by former board vice president Nancy Gregg who resigned in late August.