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Warwick resident Gillian Jeffords, a former teacher’s aide at the Jesse J. Kaplan School in West Nyack, is scheduled to appear in court in New City on Monday, after being charged with a felony count of criminal possession of a weapon earlier this year.
Jeffords, 24, was arrested on March 28, when another employee noticed a handbag that contained a handgun and contacted police. The gun was later identified as a black Ruger 9mm handgun, which was found in a staff closet.
When the gun was found, no students were in the classroom, though the school initiated its lockdown protocol. The investigation into the gun ultimately determined it was Jeffords. Once the gun was secured, the lockdown was lifted.
Police said that “at no point was this weapon displayed or used in a threatening manner by the teacher’s aide.” It was determined that Jeffords had a valid license for the weapon in both New York and Pennsylvania, but it is illegal in New York to have a gun on school property.
The BOCES school where Jeffords worked, and the gun was found, is for students with Autism, cognitive disabilities, medical fragility and/or multiple disabilities.
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