Four charges were filed Wednesday morning against the mother of a 17-year-old who brought a loaded gun to Will Rogers High School in Van Nuys, in a first of its kind prosecution for the city.
That gun was fully loaded and he had a fully loaded 7-round magazine in his backpack.
In a first-of-its kind prosecution in Los Angeles, the teen’s mother, Leah Wilcken will face charges for her son’s actions.
"For the first time ever, our office is prosecuting a parent for failure to safely store a weapon," LA City Attorney Mike Feuer said.
When police went to the teenager's home, they found four other weapons.
None were safely stored and none had trigger locks. It has been the law in California since 2011 that weapons must be safely stored in a home, but this is the first time in the City of LA that a parent is being prosecuted for not safely securing a weapon at home.
The weapon the teenager took to school was a .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun.
"That unsafely stored weapon was taken to school by a student who had an argument with another student. He was later found to have a weapon which contained seven rounds of ammunition," Feuer said.
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Wilcken has been charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, allowing a child to be endangered, allowing a gun to be taken to school and to be taken off her property.
"None of the weapons were safely stored. One was found in kitchen cabinet right next to the sink. The other ones were found in dresser drawer and behind a dresser," Deputy City Attorney Greg Dorfman said. "None were locked in a safe. None of them had trigger locks on them."
Wilcken faces a maximum of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine for each charge.
"The message of today goes well beyond zero tolerance," Feuer said. "We can do much more to prevent this from being a problem in the first place if parents take responsibility."
Feuer also announced he's teaming up with LAUSD and the organization Women Against Gun Violence to hold workshops for parents to teach them how to talk to their kids about gun safety and how to safely store their guns at home.
City News Service contributed to this report.
