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

Chicago police say a mother 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

ByThe Associated Press

18 Might 2022, 23:06

• 2 min read

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

The 28-year-old lady appeared in courtroom on Wednesday on three misdemeanor little one endangerment counts. A judge 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 discovered the gun underneath her mattress and took it to Walt Disney Magnet School on town’s North Aspect on Tuesday. The mom has a sound firearm house owners identification card.

In response to police, the backpack was within the boy's classroom when, simply earlier than 10 a.m. on Tuesday, the gun discharged. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that prosecutors stated throughout 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 e-mail to parents, the varsity's principal mentioned the bullet "brought on some particles to ricochet in your youngster’s classroom, which hit a member of our college neighborhood and induced minor scrapes.” The varsity didn't reply to a request for comment on Wednesday.

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

The woman's lawyer, Rodger Clarke, acknowledged that the gun ought to have been locked up and not just positioned underneath the mattress. However, he mentioned, “This wasn't something she deliberate or something she did on her personal volition.”

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

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

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