On the morning of September 28, 2026, a 3-year-old boy pulled a loaded, holstered handgun out of his backpack at the Children's World Early Learning Center on Sheldon Road in Canton Township, Michigan, and passed it to other children in the classroom. A teacher spotted the weapon and seized it immediately. No one was hurt.
According to WXYZ, Detroit's ABC affiliate, the weapon was a loaded Glock pistol whose holster fully covered the trigger and trigger guard. Police credit that detail — plus the teacher's fast reaction — with preventing a tragedy. The daycare has since said it will begin checking every child's backpack at drop-off.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced charges against both parents on October 1. "These are the charges that we will be able to prove in court of law beyond a reasonable doubt," Worthy said in a statement. "It is very unsettling to think about what may have happened in this case. We are thankful that there was no loss of life at this daycare center." Canton Public Safety Director Joseph Bialy said the surveillance video was "hard to watch," adding: "I don't think there was any ill intent by truly anyone involved. I think it really falls back on safe security of a firearm."
Where did the gun come from? WXYZ reports it belonged to the boy's mother, a nurse. The father, 28-year-old Brandon John Ely, is an eight-year veteran of the Detroit Police Department — four years as a detective, four in special operations. In court on October 1, Ely told the judge the household keeps nine firearms and three safes. Canton police confirmed the gun was not a department-issued service weapon; it was privately owned. How the weapon ended up in the child's backpack remains under investigation.
The case lands squarely under Michigan's safe-storage law, effective 2024: an unattended firearm must be locked in a container, or unloaded and fitted with a locking device, when a child is present or likely to be present. The penalty tiers: a child gaining access and merely possessing or displaying the gun is a misdemeanor carrying up to 93 days in jail; injury raises it to five years; death, up to 15 years. "The state of Michigan and the laws are very clear when it comes to the safe secure storage of firearms," Bialy said.
The parents were arraigned October 1 at the 35th District Court in Plymouth before Judge Joe Barone. Ely faces one count of fourth-degree child abuse, a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail. The other parent, 27-year-old Rabab Ibrahim Al Zayad, faces one count of unsafe storage of a firearm, a misdemeanor carrying up to 93 days in jail. Each was released on a $10,000 unsecured personal bond. The judge also ordered both to possess no firearms while the case is pending, with Ely's guns to be surrendered immediately — a request by defense attorney Colemon Potts for a work exemption was denied. The Detroit Police Department has placed Ely on administrative duty with no-gun status, saying in a statement: "If it is determined that the officer violated department policy or the law, that individual will be held accountable." The family's two children have been disenrolled from the daycare.
The next court date is October 30. Neither prosecutors nor police have disclosed how the gun got into the backpack, and the investigation continues. The defense attorney declined to comment after the hearing.