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

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

ByThe Related Press

18 May 2022, 23:06

• 2 min read

CHICAGO -- A Chicago 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, police said Wednesday.

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

Throughout the listening to, prosecutors alleged that the woman's 8-year-old son discovered the gun beneath her mattress and took it to Walt Disney Magnet Faculty on town’s North Facet on Tuesday. The mother has a valid firearm house owners identification card.

In response to police, the backpack was in the boy's classroom when, simply before 10 a.m. on Tuesday, the gun discharged. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that prosecutors said throughout the listening to that the bullet ricocheted off the floor and grazed the kid's abdomen. The child was taken to a hospital in good situation, police stated.

In an e mail to oldsters, the varsity's principal said the bullet "induced some debris to ricochet in your youngster’s classroom, which hit a member of our college neighborhood and caused minor scrapes.” The varsity did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

A teacher then grabbed the backpack and gave it to safety officers who discovered a Glock 19 handgun inside, prosecutors stated through the hearing.

The girl's legal professional, Rodger Clarke, acknowledged that the gun should have been locked up and not simply placed below the bed. However, he said, “This wasn't something she deliberate or one thing she did on her personal volition.”

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

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

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