Cops have said a mother in Florida has been charged after startled day care staff found a handgun inside her 2-year-old son’s lunchbox.
Shanae Davis, 39, faces several charges including allowing a minor to obtain a firearm and child neglect after a concerned teacher at Jackson’s Daycare Center in Riviera Beach opened a lunch box to find a 9mm Glock 43 handgun inside it.
The Riviera Beach Police Department reports that Davis confirmed that the gun was hers and while she normally keeps the gun in her vehicle’s glove box, lately, she has been taking the gun inside her apartment after the complex had been victim to several break-ins. Court documents show on the night of March 14, the 39-year-old mother placed the gun inside her son’s lunchbox to bring it inside, as she told authorities that she does not carry a purse, and then she never took the gun back out again.
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Police were called to the day care facility and responded promptly, later arresting Davis. The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office's show that the mother was released on Friday, March 15, after posting bail.
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The owner of the day care allegedly chose not to file charges against the mother but the state prosecutor's office, however, decided to pursue charges.
According to police documents, teachers were immediately concerned when instead of a packed lunch inside they found a weapon. Parents of other day care kids who later learned about the incident were also stunned, according to WPEC.
"It's scary," one parent Stephenne Warembourg told the outlet.
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"I mean, you know when I'm sending my kid to school thinking that he's going to be safe? I mean, are they? I don't know."
Many parents say having a gun is a safety precaution, yet incidents like this, however, are a reminder of how important it is to keep lethal weapons away from children.
“Things like that are extremely preventable," Kimberly Worth, another parent said. "You need a gun purse, and you need a plan with your gun. You have it in your gun purse. You walk in your home, it goes in a safe or a specific place, which is gun safe, just like you would make your child safe or make your pet safe."