Illegal loaded handgun found near crib during Richmond Hill search warrant: police

An illegal loaded handgun was found in a closet next to a crib as officers executed a search warrant in Richmond Hill, Ont., last week as part of an investigation into a suspected drug trafficker, police say.

York Regional Police said their guns, gangs and drug enforcement unit launched an investigation this month into a suspected drug trafficker and last Thursday, conducted a search warrant at an apartment in Richmond Hill.

“The firearm was found wrapped in a sweater, in a child’s bedroom closet, next to a crib,” police said.

The three children, aged three, eight and 12, were home at the time of the search warrant, police said, and the Children’s Aid Society has been notified.

“It is deplorable that a loaded firearm and cocaine were easily accessible to three young children in their own home and shocking the gun was found next to a crib in a three-year-old’s bedroom,” York police Chief Jim MacSween said.

A 33-year-old Richmond Hill man has been charged with a number of offences, including careless storage of a firearm, possession of a loaded prohibited or restricted firearm, possession of a firearm knowing its possession is unauthorized, possession of a weapon contrary to a prohibition order, trafficking cocaine and uttering threats.