Norristown woman charged after 6-year-old son brought her gun, bullets to school
NORRISTOWN, Pa. - A 6-year-old boy was found with a handgun and bullets at his elementary school earlier this month, and now his mom is being charged in connection to the incident.
Jasmin Devlin, 30, is charged with endangering the welfare of a child and reckless endangerment after turning herself in for allegedly failing to secure her firearm.
Jasmin Devlin
Officials say her son showed a "real gun and bullets" to students on a bus on the way to Joseph K. Gotwals Elementary School on February 9. The firearm was then discovered in the boy's backpack.
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Detective Stephen Sowell of Norristown Police was part of the investigation and said the children who reported the weapon to police should be commended.
"Even though we know no one got hurt, even though we know this was a happy ending, that we secured the gun, that there was not a tragedy… watching that video still puts a bad feeling in your stomach," said Detective Sowell. "Those young heroes were very key in making sure all the kids in that school stayed safe and also the adults."
According to an investigation, the 6-year-old found Devlin's loaded semi-automatic handgun in her bedroom dresser the night before.
His 10-year-old brother reportedly took the bullets out of the gun and pretended to shoot the boy, who told officials he put the gun in his backpack in the middle of the night.
The gun was found to be a straw purchase that took place on March 4, 2022, by Joseph Rudnitskas, who was arrested in April 2022 for illegal firearms purchases.
Acting Chief Michael Bishop said parents have to practice gun safety and make sure weapons are secure and locked away from children.
"A child is going to be very curious. They know what guns are, they know what they look like between TV, movies, social media everything like that," said Chief Bishop. "If it’s taken apart you know how to put it together but a 6, 7, 8-year-old probably won’t."
The Norristown Area School District sent a letter home to parents that said in part:
"The school staff intervened quickly, and no one was harmed. We are taking every possible measure to prevent this kind of incident from happening again. Counselors spoke with students to clarify the matter and answer their questions.
Weapons of any kind are prohibited on school property. In accordance with Norristown Area School District policy, we will take appropriate action if any student is found to possess a weapon or similar item. I encourage you to talk with your child about what they saw or heard today. Through cooperation and support, we can keep our school a safe, secure place to learn."
Shawn Hendley picks up her granddaughter every day and said it was upsetting to learn this happened and her family wasn’t notified.
"Anything could’ve happened to anybody’s children," said Hendley. "For my daughter to have not gotten the email or nothing… I don’t know where the notification would’ve come in at."