KENT COUNTY, Mich. — Charges have been issued against the Rockford firefighter accused of leaving a gun outside a school building this week.
The gun was found Tuesday morning on the pavement outside the Rockford Community Services & Administration Building.
Kent
Gun found in Rockford school parking lot during morning drop-off
It was later determined the gun reportedly belonged to a city firefighter and that he left the firearm on top of his car when he drove his child to school.
The Kent County Prosecutor’s Office says it has issued one charge against Jason Stoll with reckless use of a firearm. The charge is a misdemeanor that carries a maximum sentence of 90 days of jail time and/or $500 in fines.
The Rockford Department of Public Safety released the following statement:
"We appreciate the prosecutor’s review of our report and respect his decision to file charges. We initially recognized the significance of the location of this incident, which is why we took the step of reaching out to ensure the prosecutor was aware. We remain committed to cooperating fully with the prosecutor’s office.
"In hindsight, we realize we should have taken the additional step of retaining the handgun until the prosecutor’s office completed its review. It’s often our practice to return lost firearms directly to owners once they have been identified and no charges are being sought. In this case, though, since school property was involved and the incident was being reviewed for charges, we should have retained the weapon. We plan to use this as a learning opportunity so all of our officers can review future situations like this with more context."
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