PACOIMA : Mother of Boy With Gun Not Charged

The mother of a 7-year-old boy who brought a gun to Telfair Avenue Elementary School in Pacoima will not face misdemeanor charges for negligent storage of a firearm, authorities confirmed Wednesday.

Deputy City Atty. Paula Zamacona said California law makes it a crime to store “a loaded firearm within the reach of a child.” In this case, she said, the gun that was brought into the school on Jan. 18 was not loaded, and it was stored in what the mother believed was a secure location.

The gun was in a closed box kept at the bottom of a closet, with clothes piled on it, Zamacona said. The weapon was discovered by the boy’s 10-year-old sister, Zamacona said.

The boy brought the gun to school and showed it off to his classmates, becoming the youngest student to be caught with a gun on a Los Angeles Unified School District campus.

The case will be heard by the Board of Education on Monday. The school district has a zero-tolerance policy, requiring all students with weapons to be expelled. But some board members have balked at the idea of expelling a 7-year-old.