Authorities say the toddler picked up the weapon in the park, located at the corner of Bates and Marshall streets in Phillipsburg, Sunday afternoon.
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"I'm extremely upset," Mayor Todd Tersigni said. "I take it personally because I went from second through fifth grade here."
Tersigni has lived in the neighborhood for more than 50 years, and he says finding a loaded gun in a community park is alarming in the quiet town.
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"I just thank God the gentleman recovered the weapon," he said. "No one was hurt, and people are safe."
According to reports, the father of the toddler who found the gun was able to get it away from his child safely.
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It's shaken the family, who asked for privacy.
Police are in investigating and are looking into the history of the gun to determine from where it may have come.
They are asking for any surveillance video from around the neighborhood that might help them piece together the series of events, and anyone with information is asked to call Phillipsburg police.
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