Toddler pulls loaded gun from backpack at Michigan daycare
A toddler pulled a loaded handgun from a backpack at a daycare in Canton, Michigan, before staff intervened, according to police. No one was injured, and the child’s parent, a police officer from a neighboring department, has been taken into custody.
Officers responded on Monday morning to the Children’s World Early Learning Center on Sheldon Road. Police secured the weapon and began investigating how it reached the daycare.
Canton Police Chief Joseph Bialy said at a briefing that he watched video showing the child pulling a holstered handgun from a backpack inside the daycare.
“It’s shocking to see,” Bialy said. “The video shows the inside of the daycare center, and it shows the unsecured firearm being retrieved by a toddler.”
Bialy praised employees for quickly removing the gun and keeping the children safe. He said the daycare had been unaware that the firearm was brought inside.
“I’ve watched the video and I’ve seen what their staff did,” he said. “I commend them for their actions.”
The parent taken into custody is a police officer from a neighboring jurisdiction, Chief Bialy said. WJBK reported that the gun belongs to the officer and that the other parent is also under investigation.
Bialy said he understood the handgun was not a service weapon but could not confirm that.
The chief said he did not believe anyone involved had acted with ill intent, describing the incident as a matter of keeping firearms secure and inaccessible to children. How the loaded gun came to be in the backpack remains unclear.
Detectives are working with the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office to review the case.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
