Child Finds Gun Inside Donated Christmas Present
An 8-year-old girl reportedly found a gun next to a teddy bear inside a wrapped Christmas present received from a New York donation program. Needless to say, her foster mother was a little unnerved by the discovery.
Harlem resident Sheeba Anderson said she picked up several donated gifts from St. Anthony’s Church on December 20. Nothing about the packages seemed out of the ordinary, which made the gun’s appearance that much more shocking.
According to Gizmodo, someone had taken the time to scratch out the weapon’s serial number. Thankfully, the donated Christmas gift didn’t contain any ammunition for the gun.
The foster mother said the 8-year-old thought the firearm was a gun and began waving it around. Anderson explained to the New York Post:
“I heard her say, ‘Look, Miss Sheeba, I found a gun! She was waving it around and playing with it. his is something you never expect on Christmas. I feel like we narrowly avoided what could have been a terrible disaster.”
Understandably unsettled about the unexpected Christmas gift, Anderson reported the incident to authorities. New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services explained that it was “concerned” about the donated firearm.
“We are concerned when any potential risk in a foster home comes to our attention, and are working to ensure that all of the children in the home remain safe,” the agency explained to NBC New York.
Unfortunately, tracking down the culprit could be a bit problematic. Since the donations are made anonymously, authorities may have trouble finding the individual responsible for donating the weapon.
Police are currently looking into the make and model of the gun in hopes of figuring out who may have previously owned the gun.
As of this writing, St. Anthony’s Church has yet to respond to the incident.
What would you do if you found a gun inside your child’s Christmas present?
Tags : gun found in christmas present, harlem, New York, st. anthony's church, teddy bear gun
Posted: December 27, 2012
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Dec 28, 2012
they can take it give it to the cops for a gift card for food at the store.
Dec 28, 2012
Not for nothing but what's been going on anymore I think these big donation names should probably invest into like a scanner/xray machine before offering the gifts out. I know it will take money to do so but in the end its just another precautionary move in protecting our children. Happy New Year. A
Dec 28, 2012
This is a shame. Not for nothing but I think big name donation services might consider getting like a scanner/xray machine to view these items before offering out. I realize it will take money to do so but in the end it's just another precaution to take in keeping our children safe. Happy New Year.
Dec 28, 2012
id keep it.
Dec 28, 2012
Why are they giving out gifts without knowing what is in them. I call shenanigans on this. Any toy donation charity I have heard about makes you donate an UNWRAPPED toy. That way they can see what it is then wrap them themselves. Sounds to me that someone involved in the charity either did this or let it happen.
Dec 28, 2012
Something that frustrates me so…. Why is it that every news article I read online has spelling and grammatical errors. Well not every, I imagine.1% of them are good.
Dec 28, 2012
Who donated it Bloomberg? The media is not always honest. How do we know this story is true? If registration of a gun which is mandatory for a sale works, tracking down the original purchaser of the weapon is straight forward. The article lacks a lot of detail.
Dec 28, 2012
Kudos to the author for the eloquent writing and letting my imagination fill in the grammatical errors!
Dec 28, 2012
I say take a closer look at where the gun was discovered. Just saying It sounds so fishey a unwraped bear was he toteing the gun? was it sewed up inside (then se rips it open? 0) iF NOT SEWED UP, THE GUN NEVER FALLS OUT""".
OK SAY IT HAPPENED THAT WAY! THEN YOUR PERPATRATOR IS IN SHIPPING OR PACKING AT THE CHARITY..
Dec 28, 2012
The aricle said it was next to the bear.
Dec 28, 2012
The article said it was next to the bear. I agree it is somebody at the charity or someone that knows someone at the charity and has access to the toys. No charity gives toys to children without knowing what is in them at some point.
Dec 28, 2012
Many gifts also come from "The Giving Trees" I know I have participated in them and many other Holiday Giift Donations and I am asked to wrap the gift and put an ID number or Tag that says BOY or Girl and age. etc….
Dec 28, 2012
How is tracking down the original purchaser of the weapon so straight forward? You didn't realy read the article, did you?
Dec 28, 2012
Ok. Was the gun INSIDE the teddy bear? or NEXT to the teddy bear. The media can't even figure out witch lie to go with.
Dec 28, 2012
The serial number was scratched off. Read the article.
Dec 28, 2012
They are pawning off an illegal gun. The child probably never saw or touched it. It definitely was not wrapped with a teddy bear.
Dec 28, 2012
Your reply has them also!
Dec 28, 2012
who cares
Dec 28, 2012
"The foster mother said the 8-year-old thought the firearm was a gun ".
What a bright child.
Dec 28, 2012
Luckily forensics can usually figure out what has been scratched off, if the culprit wasn't too thorough.
Dec 28, 2012
Is it just me or has anyone else noticed? Seems like the press is really jumping on the gun thing more than usual. And I agree, this is meida CRAP! I've never, ever known of any charity to accept wrapped gifts. They would have to be super stupid. Drugs, guns, needles, porno. Come on "investigative repoters", get real!
Dec 28, 2012
you would think so just everytime someone says foster child I pray
Dec 29, 2012
"The foster mother said the 8-year-old thought the firearm was a gun and began waving it around." Wasn't she right? It was a gun…
Dec 29, 2012
Mary Robertson… I'm not a professional writer, it's more acceptable if I make a mistake.
Dec 29, 2012
besides Ms. Robertson… Please tell me the mistakes I made
Jan 1, 2013
It is sad when we think of it happening in a sinister way but Here a thought that may not cross our minds.. Maybe the donor did not know the bear had a gun stashed in it.. Maybe it was a parent who's child was killed, or maybe a parent upset about the mess in their child's room. So while cleaning out their room came across some toy(s) that were not open and thought that they would give it to those in need.. Not believing or think that their child, could hide something so danger they donated the toy(s).. It may have been a landlord who was cleaning out an evicted or abandon apartment and found items and donated them.. Maybe it not as sinister as many may believe it to be.. It could have been a simple donation with out the knowledge of what was inside.. To jump to the conclusion that the gun was placed there on purpose really shows how our society has jumps to conclusions and we have seen in the past many of our conclusions are way off base..
Jan 1, 2013
Someone can grind off a serial number to make the gun untraceable? Does the ATF know about this? Every gun I bought required the manufacturer's name and a serial number for ATF records Didn't you have to do the same when you purchased a gun?