Firefighter whose gun was found outside school faces misdemeanor charge

ROCKFORD, Mich. (WOOD) — A man whose gun fell from his car and was found outside a Rockford school building earlier this week faces a misdemeanor charge, the Kent County prosecutor says.

A charge of reckless use of firearm was issued against Jason Stoll, Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker announced Friday.

“This statute prohibits an individual from ‘recklessly or heedlessly’ using, carrying or handling a firearm without due caution and circumspection for the rights, safety, or property of others,” Becker explained in a release.

The gun was found Tuesday morning as parents were dropping off their kids in the driveway pf the community services/administration building off Lewis Street by North Main Street. The community services building houses multiple preschool programs and an alternative high school.

A parent spotted the gun on the ground, picked it up, locked it in their car and called police. No students ever touched the gun, it was never inside a school building and no one was hurt.

The Rockford Department of Public Safety said Stoll told them that he put the gun on his car to bring it inside his home, but “in his hurry to get his child to school, the owner forgot the handgun was on his vehicle.” The gun fell off the car when he was dropping off his child.

Stoll works for the Rockford Department of Public Services and is a paid on-call firefighter, police said. The gun is his personal property and he wasn’t in a city-owned vehicle at the time.

After Becker announced the charges, the Rockford Department of Public Safety said in a release that it “should have taken the additional step of retaining the handgun until the prosecutor’s office completed its review.”

The department will often give guns back to owners if they have been identified and no charges are being sought, according to the release.

“In this case, though, since school property was involved and the incident was being reviewed for charges, we should have retained the weapon,” the release says. “We plan to use this as a learning opportunity so all of our officers can review future situations like this with more context.”

It wasn’t clear when Stoll would be arraigned. If convicted, he could face a fine of $500 and/or 90 days in jail.

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