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

Chicago police say a mother has been charged with youngster endangerment after a gun in her second grader’s backpack unintentionally discharged at college, injuring a 7-year-old classmate

ByThe Associated Press

18 Could 2022, 23:06

• 2 min learn

CHICAGO -- A Chicago mom has been charged with youngster endangerment after a gun in her second grader's backpack accidentally discharged at college, injuring a 7-year-old classmate, police mentioned Wednesday.

The 28-year-old woman appeared in court on Wednesday on three misdemeanor child endangerment counts. A judge ordered her launch from Cook dinner County Jail on $1,000 bond.

Through the listening to, prosecutors alleged that the woman's 8-year-old son discovered the gun beneath her bed and took it to Walt Disney Magnet School on the city’s North Aspect on Tuesday. The mother has a legitimate firearm homeowners identification card.

In keeping with police, the backpack was within the boy's classroom when, simply earlier than 10 a.m. on Tuesday, the gun discharged. The Chicago Sun-Instances reported that prosecutors said during the listening to that the bullet ricocheted off the floor and grazed the child's stomach. The child was taken to a hospital in good condition, police stated.

In an email to oldsters, the college's principal stated the bullet "brought on some particles to ricochet in your child’s classroom, which hit a member of our college group and brought on minor scrapes.” The college didn't respond to a request for touch upon Wednesday.

A instructor then grabbed the backpack and gave it to security officers who discovered a Glock 19 handgun inside, prosecutors stated throughout the listening to.

The woman's attorney, Rodger Clarke, acknowledged that the gun ought to have been locked up and never simply positioned beneath the mattress. However, he stated, “This wasn't one thing she planned or something she did on her personal volition.”

Prepare dinner County Choose Michael Hogan was not impressed by that argument.

“This will likely not have been an intentional act, but it is a supremely negligent act,” he mentioned.

He continued: “We are inches away, presumably centimeters away, from a very totally different case and a very different tragedy.”