A Pennsylvania woman was arrested and charged when her six-year-old son took a semi-automatic weapon to school, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.
The gun found in the child’s backpack was one of several guns purchased by a Norristown drug dealer from one of his customers in exchange for drugs.
Jasmin Devlin, the boy’s mother, faces multiple charges in what authorities call a “frighteningly close call.”
She was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and reckless endangerment for failing to secure her gun and allowing her two children access to it, which she kept loaded and unsecured in her apartment, according to police.
Devlin will almost certainly face additional charges for possessing an unlawful firearm.
In a statement, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele noted that the incident served as a warning that children may and do locate unsecured firearms in the home and play with them.
Fortunately, the brothers did not shoot or injure each other at home, and no one was shot or injured at school.
The six-year-old with the handgun was discovered by police at Joseph K. Gotwals Elementary School after some pupils informed teachers that he was showing other students his gun, which contained real bullets.
According to the probable cause affidavit, on February 9, teachers discovered a 9mm Jimenez handgun inside the boy’s school backpack and promptly alerted the officers.
According to the youngster, he and his older brother were rummaging for a laptop charger in his mother’s drawer when they discovered the gun.
He told cops that his 10-year-old brother got the gun, emptied it, pointed it at him, and then pulled the trigger, which scared him because he was afraid there were bullets in the gun.
Later that night, the child was awakened by a bad dream, and he proceeded to get the revolver and hide it in his bag. According to the affidavit, he carried it to school the next morning.