Gun discharged by 7-year-old at Maryland school was registered to mother's boyfriend, police say
A 7-year-old brought a gun registered to his mother's boyfriend to an Anne Arundel County school on Wednesday before accidentally discharging it in a classroom, according to police.
The boyfriend, 34-year-old Eashan John Stefanski, was served with a criminal summons on Thursday, charged with leaving a loaded firearm accessible to a minor.
The second-grader brought a handgun to Freetown Elementary School in Glen Burnie and discharged the gun inside his classroom, police said. He was taken to the hospital with a non-life-threatening injury to his hand.
Police said the boy brought the gun from his home. The Glock 27 firearm is registered to Stefanski, according to charging documents obtained by WJZ.
The charge does not carry jail time, but Stefanski could be fined up to $1,000.
"It's a misdemeanor charge," said Anne Arundel County Police spokesperson Justin Mulcahy. "That is for leaving a loaded firearm basically accessible to a minor – this 7-year-old child. The individual charged is an occupant of the home where the child lives. My understanding is he is a significant other to the child's mother."
Discharging at Freetown Elementary
Officers were called to the elementary school on Wednesday morning after police said the child was showing off a gun when it discharged and shot him in the finger.
The bullet continued onto the floor, ricocheted, and struck a cabinet in the classroom, according to charging documents. Nine students and a teacher were inside the classroom at the time.
A teacher secured the weapon and provided aid to the student, according to police.
Checking the firearms in the home
The child was living with his mother and her boyfriend, who keeps several firearms in the home, according to charging documents. Stefanski told police he keeps one gun in his car, one gun under his mattress, and three rifles in a locked safe in his closet.
Officers were permitted to check inside the home, where they found an unloaded handgun under the mattress, two unloaded guns locked in gun boxes in the bedroom closet, along with the keys. Police said a gun box was located without its Glock 27, but contained a gun lock, the keys and loaded magazines.
The responding officer determined the firearms were not properly stored from children, and police seized them.
Keeping guns away from children
Anne Arundel County police are reminding gun owners about the county's free gun lock program through the Anne Arundel County Department of Health and stressing the importance of safe storage and firearm education.
"Explaining the severity of it and the seriousness of it and why you keep those guns locked up and secured away from children," Mulcahy said. "There's a reason that you secure weapons away from children and talk about the dangers of weapons."
