Mom charged after 6-year-old took her gun on school bus
A Norristown woman allowed her two sons, ages 6 and 10, to have unrestricted access to a loaded handgun, which authorities say was carried onto a school bus by the younger boy and placed numerous children in danger, according to court documents.
Jasmin C. Devlin, 30, was arraigned before District Court Judge Albert J. Augustine on Tuesday on charges of endangering the welfare of children and recklessly endangering other persons.
The offenses occurred Feb. 8 at her residence and on Feb. 9 at the Joseph K. Gotwals Elementary School on East Oak Street in Norristown.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and Norristown acting Police Chief Michael Bishop announced Devlin’s arrest on Wednesday.
“This incident is a frightening reminder of the fact that children can and do find unsecured firearms in a home, and they play with them,” Steele said. “Thankfully, these young boys were not shot or injured in their home, and no one was shot or injured at school thanks to the quick action by school personnel.”
Bishop praised students who told school officials what they observed on the school bus and prevented a tragedy.
“These children are the true heroes in this unfortunate incident. Their notification to school officials resulted in an immediate response by Norristown Police, ensuring the safety of everyone at the school,” Bishop said.
“Jasmin Devlin endangered her children and the lives of the children on the school bus when she failed to secure a loaded 9mm Jimenez Arms handgun which enabled her 6-yearold child and 10-year-old child to have unrestricted access to the firearm,” Norristown Detective Joshua Keenan alleged in the arrest affidavit.
Augustine set Devlin’s bail at $50,000 unsecured, meaning she’s free pending a Feb. 24 preliminary hearing on the charges before District Judge Francis J. Lawrence Jr. She’s also not allowed to have contact with children.
It’s unclear where her children are.
The arrest follows an incident in Newport News, Va., that made national headlines when a 6-yearold boy took a gun to his elementary school and shot and wounded a teacher.
‘Real gun with bullets’
On Feb. 9, the principal at Gotwals contacted authorities to report a child with a gun. Investigators, including a school resource officer, went to the school and met with the 6-year-old boy and school staff.
Police gave this account: Detectives were directed to a Marvel Super Hero backpack that had a gun in it. Detectives recovered the bag and inside observed a 9 mm Jimenez Arms semiautomatic handgun along with eight 9 mm bullets.
A school secretary told investigators that the boy arrived on Bus 50 and that as soon as the bus arrived at the school, “a group of students came running into the school” and told her that the boy was on the bus and was “showing other students a real gun and bullets.” School officials immediately brought the 6-year-old boy to an office and looked in the school bag and discovered the gun, court documents indicate.
When detectives interviewed the boy, he relayed that on the evening of Feb. 8, he was in his mother’s bedroom looking for a charger for his 10-yearold brother’s laptop computer when the older boy found a gun in their mother’s dresser and pulled it out and “the two started playing with it.”
The younger boy told detectives that the older boy took the bullets out of the gun and was pointing it at him and pretending to shoot him.
The younger boy was scared and woke up that night from a nightmare, then entered his mother’s room, and took the firearm and put it in the backpack.
Detectives alleged the 6-year-old boy had unrestricted access to the gun on the morning of Feb. 9 when he was able to carry the gun onto his school bus without Devlin having knowledge of its location “or the fact that a school bus filled with elementary age students had access and possession of it.
“The ammunition recovered was live and unfired,” Detective Joshua Keenan said. “(The 6-yearold boy) explained how he removed the ammunition from the firearm by pushing the button and ‘pulling it.’ Based on this description, I believe (the 6-yearold) removed the magazine from the gun, meaning that it was loaded with ammunition at the time he retrieved it from Jasmin Devlin’s bedroom and brought it onto the school bus.”