Gun in 8-year-old’s backpack goes off at college, mother charged

Chicago police say a mother 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 Related Press

18 Might 2022, 23:06

• 2 min read

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

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

During the listening to, prosecutors alleged that the girl's 8-year-old son discovered the gun beneath her mattress and took it to Walt Disney Magnet School on the city’s North Aspect on Tuesday. The mom has a valid firearm homeowners 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-Instances reported that prosecutors said through the listening to that the bullet ricocheted off the ground and grazed the kid's abdomen. The kid was taken to a hospital in good condition, police stated.

In an electronic mail to folks, the school's principal stated the bullet "brought about some debris to ricochet in your youngster’s classroom, which hit a member of our school community and precipitated minor scrapes.” The varsity didn't respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

A trainer then grabbed the backpack and gave it to safety officers who found a Glock 19 handgun inside, prosecutors mentioned during the listening to.

The lady's lawyer, Rodger Clarke, acknowledged that the gun ought to have been locked up and never just positioned below the bed. However, he stated, “This wasn't one thing she deliberate or one thing she did on her own volition.”

Cook County Choose Michael Hogan was not impressed by that argument.

“This may not have been an intentional act, however it is a supremely negligent act,” he mentioned.

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