On Friday, Letty M Lopez, the mother of a 6-year-old child who allegedly brought a firearm to school, was charged with both allowing a child to have access to a loaded firearm and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Lopez was later released on criminal summons.
In the aftermath of the shooting of a first-grade teacher at a Virginia school, Norfolk school staff found the 6-year-old student in possession of a handgun on school premises and reported it to the authorities. Police immediately responded to the situation at Little Creek Elementary School and no one was hurt.
It remains unclear whether 35-year-old Letty M Lopez has obtained an attorney.
Letty M Lopez joins a shocking list of adults charged for providing children access to firearms
Just a month after Abby Zwerner was shot by a 6-year-old student in the middle of class, another elementary school student was found carrying a handgun to class.
The Norfolk Police Department was informed before anyone could ger hurt and the child's mother, Letty M Lopez, was charged with providing a minor access to a loaded firearm. In a press release, Norfolk police said:
"On February 16, 2023, around 3:30 p.m., police responded to Little Creek Elementary School located at 7901 Nancy Drive for the report of a student having a weapon in the school. When Officers arrived, a handgun was turned over to police by school staff."
Norfolk Public Schools spokeswoman Michelle Washington provided further details to CNN and said:
"School administration immediately enacted safety and security protocols including calling Norfolk Police. School administration also immediately contacted division leadership and the Communications office."
Letty M Lopez is one of the many adults who have recently found themselves faced with legal proceedings over providing children access to guns. On February 9, Pennsylvania police responded to a call to Joseph K. Gotwal’s Elementary School in Norristown after a group of students got off a bus in the morning and immediately reported to the school’s secretary that a 6-year-old boy had shown other students on the bus a real gun and bullets.
According to NBC, 30-year-old Jasmin Devlin, the student's mother, surrendered to police and was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and reckless endangerment. Investigators claimed that the boy’s 10-year-old brother took the bullets out of a gun they found in their mother's dresser and pointed the weapon at his younger brother, pretending to shoot him.
Another 6-year-old in North Carolina was found with an unloaded 9mm handgun in his backpack at Fairview Elementary School. 58-year-old Marvin Ray Davis was charged with storing a firearm to protect a minor.