Gun in 8-year-old’s backpack goes off in school, mom charged

Chicago police say a mom has been charged with child endangerment after a gun in her second grader’s backpack accidentally discharged in school, injuring a 7-year-old classmate

ByThe Associated Press

18 Might 2022, 23:06

• 2 min learn

CHICAGO -- A Chicago mother has been charged with little one endangerment after a gun in her second grader's backpack by accident discharged at school, injuring a 7-year-old classmate, police said Wednesday.

The 28-year-old lady appeared in court docket on Wednesday on three misdemeanor youngster endangerment counts. A decide ordered her launch from Prepare dinner County Jail on $1,000 bond.

In the course of the hearing, prosecutors alleged that the lady's 8-year-old son found the gun underneath her mattress and took it to Walt Disney Magnet School on town’s North Facet on Tuesday. The mom has a valid firearm owners identification card.

In response to police, the backpack was within the boy's classroom when, just earlier than 10 a.m. on Tuesday, the gun discharged. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that prosecutors said throughout the listening to that the bullet ricocheted off the ground and grazed the child's abdomen. The kid was taken to a hospital in good situation, police stated.

In an e mail to oldsters, the varsity's principal said the bullet "brought on some particles to ricochet in your little one’s classroom, which hit a member of our college neighborhood and induced minor scrapes.” The college did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

A teacher then grabbed the backpack and gave it to safety officers who discovered a Glock 19 handgun inside, prosecutors said throughout the listening to.

The lady's lawyer, Rodger Clarke, acknowledged that the gun ought to have been locked up and never simply positioned below the bed. But, he stated, “This wasn't something she planned or something she did on her personal volition.”

Cook dinner County Judge Michael Hogan was not impressed by that argument.

“This will not have been an intentional act, but it's a supremely negligent act,” he said.

He continued: “We're inches away, probably centimeters away, from a very totally different case and a very completely different tragedy.”