Judge enters plea for Newtown middle school teacher who carried gun into school

DANBURY, Connecticut -- Court documents show a Newtown middle school teacher who was arrested on a weapon possession charge was carrying a loaded .45-caliber pistol in a holster inside the school.

A Danbury Superior Court judge on Wednesday entered an initial not-guilty plea for 46-year-old Jason Adams before continuing the case to May 25.

Adams was arrested April 6 after a school employee saw the pistol and notified authorities.

Police say Adams had a valid pistol permit, but Connecticut state law prohibits possession of firearms on school grounds.

Adams was placed on administrative leave. He has not responded to messages left at his home.

Newtown Middle School is less than 2 miles from the site of the December 2012 shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School that killed 20 first-graders and six educators.