The parents of a 3-year-old were charged with misdemeanors on Thursday after the child pulled a loaded handgun out of a backpack at a day care center in Michigan, where it was passed around to other children, the authorities said.
No one was injured in what the police described as a shocking episode that was captured on video cameras inside the Childrens World Early Learning Center in Canton, Mich., on Monday. The authorities have not said who brought the backpack into the center but said the gun, a Glock pistol, was registered to the child’s mother.
A teacher at the center quickly intervened, taking the gun, which was in a holster, away from the children, prosecutors said.
“It is very unsettling to think about what may have happened in this case,” Kym L. Worthy, the Wayne County prosecutor, said in a statement on Thursday. “We are thankful that there was no loss of life at this day care center.”
The father, Brandon John Ely, 28, a Detroit police officer, was charged with one count of fourth-degree child abuse, a misdemeanor punishable by a year in jail. The mother, Rabab Ibrahim Al Zayad, 27, was charged with one count of unsafe storage of a firearm, a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days in jail.
Both parents were arraigned on Thursday morning, and pleaded not guilty. They were expected back in court for a pretrial conference on Oct. 30. Their lawyer, Ryan E. Hill, declined to comment on the charges.
Ms. Worthy’s office said that the child had found the gun in a backpack that had been stored in a classroom.
The Canton police chief, Joseph Bialy, said that video cameras recorded “the unsecured firearm being retrieved by a toddler, which is something that was hard for me to be able to watch, even though I know the outcome.”
Chief Bialy praised the center’s staff members for their “swift and responsible actions” in response to the gun.
“I’ve seen what their staff did, and they were prepared and ready to be able to remove this firearm and keep all the kids safe there,” he said at a news conference on Monday. “And I commend them for their actions.”
The chief added that he did not believe that there was “any ill intent” by anyone involved.
“I think it really falls back on safe security of a firearm, making sure that we know where our firearms are located, and they are not accessible to anyone,” he said.
Childrens World Early Learning Center said in a statement that it was working closely with the police and had introduced new security measures, including backpack checks.
“At Childrens World, there is nothing we take more seriously than the safety, security and well-being of the children entrusted to our care,” it said. “We understand the concerns this event has caused our families, and as educators and parents ourselves, we fully share those feelings.”
The Detroit Police Department said in a statement said that Mr. Ely had been placed on administrative duty, without access to his gun, while it reviewed the episode. “If it is determined that the officer violated department policy or the law, that individual will be held accountable,” it said.
In 2023, a 6-year-old boy shot a teacher at an elementary school in Newport News, Va., with a 9-millimeter handgun he said he had taken from his mother’s purse. The boy’s mother, Deja Taylor, was sentenced in December 2023 to two years in prison after she pleaded guilty to felony child neglect. Prosecutors did not charge the boy, and a jury later awarded $10 million to Abigail Zwerner, the first-grade teacher who was shot.
Kitty Bennett contributed research.
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