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Jasmin Devlin, 30, surrendered to police on Tuesday, Feb. 14 and was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Albert J. Augustine who set bail at $50,000 unsecured, the DA said.
According to authorities Devlin's young son took the pistol on the school bus on Thursday, Feb. 9, and began showing classmates. A group of children immediately alerted a secretary when the bus arrived at the school, they said.
The secretary called the child into her office, looked in his book bag, and called police after finding the weapon, prosecutors wrote.
An investigation revealed that the 6-year-old and his 10-year-old brother discovered the 9mm Jimenez Arms semi-auto handgun in their mother's dresser drawer the day prior, on Feb. 8, detectives said.
The older boy "took the bullets out of the gun and was pointing the gun at his brother, pretending to shoot him," police said.
Later that night, the 6-year-old snuck back into the bedroom and stashed the weapon in his backpack before heading off to school Thursday morning, they added.
The weapon itself was a straw-purchased gun, meaning it was illegally bought on someone else's behalf, police said. Joseph Rudnitskas, a 33-year-old Norristown resident, is currently awaiting trial on multiple felony counts related to the purchase of the gun, the DA noted.
Devlin is now charged with endangering the welfare of a child and reckless endangerment.
“This incident is a frightening reminder of the fact that children can and do find unsecured firearms in a home, and they play with them," Steele wrote.
"Thankfully, these young boys were not shot or injured in their home, and no one was shot or injured at school thanks to the quick action by school personnel."
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