Chicago woman charged after gun in son's backpack goes off at school

gun tile handgun tile automatic weapon / Getty Images
gun tile handgun tile automatic weapon / Getty Images

CHICAGO (AP) - A Chicago mother has been arrested and charged with child endangerment after a gun in her second grader's backpack accidentally discharged at school, injuring a 7-year-old classmate, police said Wednesday.

Tatanina Kelly, 28, is expected to appear in court Wednesday on three misdemeanor child endangerment counts, police said.

According to police, the weapon accidentally discharged just before 10 a.m. Tuesday in a classroom at Walt Disney Magnet School on the city's North Side. They said the bullet ricocheted off the floor and the 7-year-old suffered a grazing wound to the abdomen. Police said the child was taken to a hospital in good condition.

Police have not provided details about what struck the child, but the school's principal explained in an email to parents that the bullet "caused some debris to ricochet in your child's classroom, which hit a member of our school community and caused minor scrapes."

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