A school police officer in Florida was arrested after her 3-year-old son found her gun and shot himself in the foot, authorities said.
The Homestead Police Department said officers responded to a report of a self-inflicted gunshot at a residence on Southeast 26th Terrace in Homestead, south of Miami, shortly before 2 p.m. on Sunday. The boy was airlifted to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital and was in stable condition.
The boy's mother, 25-year-old Stephanie Alondra Jerez, was identified as a Miami-Dade Schools Police officer. The gun found by her son was not her department-issued service weapon, but a personally owned gun, according to Homestead Police.
Jerez told police she was making food in the kitchen when she heard the shot and saw her son was injured. She said she stores the gun away from her son, but the Glock 9mm handgun was on the kitchen counter when officers arrived at the home, and there was no holster or secure gun case nearby.
"The Homestead Police Department takes cases involving child endangerment very seriously, and we are committed to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of all children in our community," police said in a statement. "The Homestead Police Department urges all gun owners to securely store firearms and to educate themselves and their families about gun safety."
Jerez was arrested and charged with child neglect with great bodily harm. She was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $5,000 bond.
At a court appearance on Monday, a judge said Jerez would be allowed to be around her son unless the Florida Department of Children and Families orders otherwise. The judge also said, however, that she would not be permitted to have guns in her home with children present, and would not be allowed to carry a gun unless it was for work.
The Miami-Dade Schools Police Department said it relieved Jerez of duty pending the outcome of the investigation.
-- with reporting by TMX
