CANTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. A toddler pulled a loaded, holstered handgun from a backpack Monday morning inside Children’s World Early Learning Center on Sheldon Road. Police arrested one parent and opened a criminal investigation. No one was injured.

Canton Public Safety said officers responded Monday, September 28, after a report that a toddler had a loaded firearm inside a local daycare. Officers secured the weapon. Police said there is no ongoing threat to the community. News outlets later identified the site as Children’s World Early Learning Center at 7437 Sheldon Road.

A message the center sent to families said the firearm was in a holster inside the child’s backpack. When the child took it out, a teacher stepped in and secured the gun. Police Chief Joseph Bialy said he watched video from inside the center showing the child removing the unsecured firearm from the backpack. He called the footage shocking and said it was hard to watch even though he already knew no one had been hurt.

He said the daycare had not known the firearm was in the building. Bialy said an instructor was in the room the entire time, saw what was happening, and acted at once. Other children were at the center that morning. Police have not said how many children were in that classroom.

“They had a representative, a teacher, instructor that was in that room the entire time, identified what was happening, and took swift action to intervene,” Bialy said. “And had that not happened, I do not know where we would be right now or what kind of conversation I would be having.” Staff called police. Officers took custody of the loaded handgun.

The toddler did not fire it. Authorities have reported no injuries to children, employees, or anyone else. Children’s World Early Learning Center said the incident was unfortunate, that no one was hurt, and that safety measures were followed. “We pride ourselves on being one of the safest centers in the Canton area.

It is our priority. Although this incident was out of our control, we are very proud of our staff and especially the teacher who responded so quickly,” the center said. “Because of our attention to safety and our strict adherence to protocols, we avoided what could have been a tragedy.” The center told families the family involved had been disenrolled.

Bialy said the center already had security measures and planned to add more, including searches of all backpacks. Police have not publicly named the parent taken into custody. Officials said that person has not been arraigned. No charges had been announced as of Tuesday afternoon.

The Canton Police Department’s Detective Bureau is handling the case and will send its findings to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office. Investigators contacted both of the toddler’s parents, Bialy said. Detailed local reporting based on the chief’s comments separates the two parents. One parent was arrested.

The child’s other parent is a police officer with a neighboring agency and was not the parent taken into custody. Bialy said that officer’s department is conducting an internal investigation. A message the daycare sent to families said the child’s father is a police officer. Some early national reports said the parent in custody was the officer.

Later accounts and the fuller local reports matched Bialy’s distinction. The arrested parent is one parent. The officer is the other parent. Police have not released the officer’s name, agency, or rank.

FOX 2 Detroit reported that the owner of the firearm is a police officer from a neighboring department and that the other parent is also part of the investigation. How the loaded gun got into the backpack, and who put it there, is still being examined. Police said they are still working to learn how the toddler ended up with the weapon. Authorities have said the handgun found at the daycare was not a law enforcement service weapon.

That has been reported by the Associated Press and by WWJ. An earlier briefing account said Bialy understood the gun was not a service weapon but could not confirm it then. Later reporting said police confirmed it was not a firearm issued by a police department. Police described the gun as loaded and holstered inside the child’s backpack.

Bialy said the central issue is whether the firearm was kept secure and out of a child’s reach. “I don’t think there was any ill intent by truly anyone involved,” he said. “I think it really falls back on safe security of a firearm, making sure that we know where our firearms are located, that they are not accessible to anyone.” He also said, “We have to understand where our firearms are, and we have a duty to make sure that we keep them secure.”

And: “The law is very clear. If a child is present or you anticipate a child being present, you have to take those precautions.” Bialy pointed to Michigan’s firearm storage statute.

Under MCL 28.429, which took effect February 13, 2024, a person who stores or leaves a firearm unattended on premises under that person’s control, and who knows or reasonably should know that a minor is or is likely to be present, must store the firearm in a locked box or container designed for firearms, or keep it unloaded and secured with a locking device such as a trigger lock or cable lock.

Similar rules apply when a person brings a firearm onto someone else’s premises or leaves one in a vehicle where a child is or is likely to be present. A minor under the statute is a person younger than 18. The law does not require every gun in Michigan to be locked at all times. It applies when a child is present or likely to be present and the firearm is left unattended.

If a minor obtains a firearm because it was not stored as required, and then possesses or exhibits it in a public place, or handles it in a careless, reckless, or threatening way in another person’s presence, the statute makes that a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days in jail, a fine of up to $500, or both. Penalties rise to felonies if the child fires the gun and causes injury, serious impairment, or death.

Those penalties can be added to any other criminal charges from the same conduct. Whether this statute, or any other charge, will be filed in the Canton case is a decision for prosecutors after police finish their work. No charging decision had been announced by Tuesday. Detectives are examining how the loaded firearm got into the backpack and then into the daycare.

Police have not said whether the child opened the bag at arrival, whether an adult packed the gun, or whether the holstered pistol was left unattended at home. Bialy said a toddler should never have had that firearm. The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office will review the completed file. Further charges are possible.

None have been announced. The parent in custody has not been named because arraignment has not occurred. The neighboring police department’s internal inquiry into its officer is separate from the Canton criminal case. Other parents at the center said they were shocked to receive the daycare’s message Monday describing a loaded firearm in a toddler’s backpack.

Police asked anyone with information to contact the Canton Police Department. “We are incredibly fortunate that no one was injured during this incident,” Bialy said. “A toddler should never have had possession of that firearm. We’re so lucky that we didn’t have an incident there.”

He later added, “A loaded firearm in the arms of a toddler is an extremely serious matter, and we will continue to treat it that way.” As of Tuesday, September 29, the weapon remained with police, the criminal case remained open, and authorities continued to say the public threat had ended.