Baltimore Police Arrest 5-Year-Old's Mother After He Brings A Gun To School
BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- A handgun is found inside a Baltimore elementary school. And even more shocking, it was found in the hands of a pre-kindergartner. Now that child's mother is in custody.
Weijia Jiang has new details from police.
Luckily, a teacher found the gun in the child's backpack before something horrific happened. Now his mother faces several charges.
At Northwood Elementary in Baltimore, parents are fuming after learning a pre-kindergarten student brought a gun to school.
"That's unacceptable, that's crazy," Vernon Williams, the parent of a student of Northwood Elementary, said.
"Somebody could be at a funeral home making arrangements," William Kitt, the grandparent of a Northwood student, said.
And students are still recovering.
"I was scared because I thought it was somebody in my classroom," Tyese Goode, a student at the school, said.
City school police have arrested the 5-year-old boy's mother. WJZ's media partner, The Baltimore Sun, identifies the mother as Vernetta Holson Anderson, 37, charged with giving a minor access to a firearm, reckless endangerment and having a gun on her person and in her vehicle.
"They ought to be ashamed of themselves, terribly ashamed. A pre-K student," Cynthia Goode, the grandparent of a Northwood student, said.
WJZ confirmed with police the weapon was a .22 caliber handgun. But the school system has not revealed whether it was loaded or not.
"The pre-K could have got the gun and just playing with it, him and other kids could have got hurt," Bridget House, parent of a Northwood student, said.
Northwood's principal sent a letter home to parents, which said in part: "We take everyone's safety seriously and work diligently to ensure that Northwood Elementary is a safe environment for learning."
It also asks parents to monitor what their children bring to school.
"If you have weapons around the house, keep them locked up," Kitt said.
State law requires school officials to suspend students who bring a gun to school.
The Baltimore school system has not revealed if the child has been disciplined yet.
