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.

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