Gun in 8-year-old’s backpack goes off in 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 in school, injuring a 7-year-old classmate

ByThe Associated Press

18 May 2022, 23:06

• 2 min read

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

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

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

In accordance with police, the backpack was in the boy's classroom when, simply earlier than 10 a.m. on Tuesday, the gun discharged. The Chicago Sun-Occasions reported that prosecutors mentioned in the course of the hearing that the bullet ricocheted off the ground and grazed the kid's stomach. The child was taken to a hospital in good situation, police mentioned.

In an e-mail to parents, the school's principal stated the bullet "brought about some particles to ricochet in your youngster’s classroom, which hit a member of our college neighborhood and precipitated minor scrapes.” The varsity did not reply 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 stated in the course of the hearing.

The woman's lawyer, Rodger Clarke, acknowledged that the gun ought to have been locked up and not just positioned beneath the mattress. But, he stated, “This wasn't one thing she planned or something she did on her personal volition.”

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

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

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