dpRICHMOND, Va. (WWBT/Gray News) – A 2-year-old Virginia child allegedly put a daycare administrator’s loaded gun in their mouth, according to a report from the state’s Department of Social Services.
The report alleges an administrator at Thrive Learning Center East, a daycare in Richmond, brought a gun onto the campus in a fanny pack on Sept. 25. A 2-year-old child got the loaded gun out of the fanny pack and put the barrel in their mouth, according to the report.
“[The toddler] walked over to a table with the firearm in their mouth, placed the firearm on a table where five other children were sitting on the floor, and then picked up the firearm from the table,” the report states.
Social Services said the toddler had the gun for about 15 seconds before any adults realized.
The toddler was able to get to the gun because the fanny pack was unzipped and placed on top of a “low stack of cots” inside the classroom, according to the report.
Social Services said the administrator regularly brought this gun to work with them and routinely left the fanny pack accessible to the children.
Around 30 seconds before the toddler grabbed the gun, the report alleges the administrator and another staff member were looking down at their phones, while a different staff member had their back turned to the 2-year-old, putting socks on another child.
Social Services says the administrator and the staff failed to report the incident to the department within 24 hours and instead waited four days before reporting it on Sept. 29.
The gun was removed from the immediate area where the children were, put in a lock box and removed from the building.
This is just one of several violations found at Thrive Learning Center East during an Oct. 8 inspection. Other violations found included leaving children unsupervised and not keeping up with vaccination records.
Social Services gave the daycare the following plan of correction:
“All staff will be trained/retrained on understanding mandated reporting requirements and what is included under the definition child abuse and neglect. Staff will be trained to report offenses to 911, the Department of Social Services, and/or Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline. Staff will be given information for reporting as well as be posted at the daycare in each classroom. Thrive Learning Center East will adhere to and train all staff regarding “Zero Tolerance” for firearms or other weapons on daycare property. Thrive Learning Center East has reached out to the Richmond Police Department for safety training and defense in the case of an intruder and will seek to partner with the Richmond Police Department on an annual training.”
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