KIDS' DISCOVERY OF GUN UNDER FLOORBOARD MYSTIFIES MOM

WEST HAVEN - Kyle Soto, 8, and his sister Erica, 10, admit they were
scared when they stumbled across a cache of bullets hidden under a
floorboard in the family attic.

But the siblings, who also are the best of friends, knew exactly what
they had to do: get mom.

And mom Lori Soto has never been prouder than when the kids came
running to her this week, because what they found next terrified all
three of them.

There was a semiautomatic pistol nestled under the floorboard of the
cozy attic playroom, where Soto always thought her children would be
safe. The weapon does not belong to Lori or her husband, Ray Soto, who
bought their house here two years ago to avoid the violence of larger
cities.

"It was incomprehensible, to find a gun in your home. To think of the
tragedy that could have been is a fear that will stay with me
forever," said Soto, so protective a mother that she doesn't even let
her children play with water guns. "I want to bring my kids up right
and I thank God they listened to me."

And listening to their mom, each other, and other respected adults is
exactly what Kyle, a severe hemophiliac, and Erica, an asthmatic, say
prompted them to quick action when Kyle accidentally dislodged the
floorboard in the attic where they keep a chalkboard and play hide and
seek.

"My mom and Officer Joe (Vecellio) always told us never to touch
bullets or a gun," said Erica, a fourth-grader at Washington School
who wants to be a singer. "And I want other kids to know that if this
happens to them, they shouldn't either."

Soto, who sells Avon products so she can be home with her children,
said part of the reason she agreed to tell her story to the Register
is so that other kids will learn from her kids.

"These are role models," Soto said.

And though Officer Joe Vecellio, who helps run the police department's
in-school Drug Abuse Resistance Program, was not the officer who came
at Lori Soto's request to collect the gun from the house, police said
Vecellio should be credited in part with inspiring the responsible
kids' behavior.

"This shows that our DARE program is working," said police spokesman
Officer Domenic F. Vinci. "This was a potential tragedy averted and
the saving of even one life shows the message gets across."

Vinci said he has never heard of a gun turning up unexpectedly in a
city home, and officials may never know the origin of the .380 caliber
Lorgin pistol, because it was not reported stolen. The gun is in
working order.

And investigators also have no way of knowing how long it was in the
Soto's house, which previously had numerous tentants.

Vinci said the department may trace the gun's serial number, but there
is no urgency since the gun has not been used in a crime and is not
stolen. The gun will eventually be turned over to the state police.

The weapon was wrapped in a plastic bag, which at first glance
prompted Lori Soto to think it was garbage stuffed under her floor.
Then she felt the hard butt of the gun through the plastic.

"I was worried," said Kyle, a New York Yankees fan who hopes to become
an athlete or a police officer. "But mom grabbed it (the gun) quickly
before anything could happen."