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

Chicago police say a mother has been charged with little one 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 learn

CHICAGO -- A Chicago 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, police stated Wednesday.

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

During the hearing, prosecutors alleged that the girl's 8-year-old son discovered the gun underneath her mattress and took it to Walt Disney Magnet College on the city’s North Facet on Tuesday. The mom has a legitimate firearm house owners identification card.

In response to police, the backpack was in the boy's classroom when, just before 10 a.m. on Tuesday, the gun discharged. The Chicago Solar-Occasions reported that prosecutors said during the hearing that the bullet ricocheted off the ground and grazed the kid's abdomen. The child was taken to a hospital in good condition, police mentioned.

In an email to parents, the school's principal said the bullet "prompted some debris to ricochet in your youngster’s classroom, which hit a member of our school neighborhood and caused minor scrapes.” The school didn't respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

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

The girl's legal professional, Rodger Clarke, acknowledged that the gun ought to have been locked up and never simply positioned underneath the bed. But, he mentioned, “This wasn't one thing she planned or one thing she did on her own volition.”

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

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

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