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A 21-year-old woman went to South Philadelphia High School, 2101 S. Broad St., to sign up for classes, but never made it past the metal detectors.
Kelly Jones planned to sign up for evening classes in order to obtain her G.E.D. at 10:45 a.m. Jan. 10, but school officers prevented her from doing so after an X-ray machine detected a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson handgun with one live round in the chamber and eight more in the clip inside her diaper bag, Capt. Larry Nodiff of South Detective Division said Wednesday.
“Apparently the screening officer looking at the imager saw that inside the diaper bag — it was a pink and white diaper bag — there was a weapon,” Nodiff said. “They stopped everyone from going any further and placed her in custody. Apparently, she told them she didn’t know anything about the gun and didn’t know it was in the diaper bag.”
Her infant was placed in a family member’s custody — both of whom were with Jones at the time of her arrest.
“We all had a concern the mom — in the baby’s diaper bag — had a weapon,” Nodiff, who noted the firearm’s serial number was obliterated, said. “[The City’s Department of Human Services] declined to open an investigation.”
She was charged with five firearm violations, including carrying as a prohibited person, without a license, in public, with an altered serial number and on school property, according to court records. Her bail was set at $200,000 Friday, and she has not posted it as of press time.
“The system that’s in place [at Southern] worked and stopped the threat right at the door,” Nodiff said.
Contact Managing Editor Amanda L. Snyder at asnyder@southphillyreview.com or ext. 117.
91238441
