The mother of a 7-year-old New York City student who brought a handgun to his school in a book bag on Thursday has been arrested on multiple weapons possession and endangerment charges, police said on Friday.

New York police said Deborah Farley, 53, had put the gun in her son’s school bag.

It was unclear why she had done so and whether the child was aware he was carrying the weapon when she dropped him off at his public elementary school, a police department spokeswoman said.

Farley is expected to be arraigned Friday afternoon. A call to her house was not immediately returned.

Around 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, according to police, Farley dropped the child off at Wave Preparatory Elementary School, located in Queens. Shortly afterwards, she returned to school, saying she had to take her son out of class for a dental appointment, the police said.

She then returned to the school once more at around 10:00 a.m., telling officials that her son had given a weapon, taken from his school bag, to another student.

The episode comes amid heightened concerns about school safely in the wake of a December shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in which a gunman killed 20 first-graders and six adults.

(Reuters)