Man was ‘doing chores’ when he placed loaded handgun in son’s backpack: complaint

A Phoenixville man, who was charged after his son showed up to school with a loaded handgun on Monday, said he was “doing home chores” when he placed the firearm in his child’s backpack, according to his criminal complaint.

On Monday, April 13, Russell Matthews, 58, was called to Hares Hill Elementary School in East Pikeland Township after a child reported to school authorities he had found a semiautomatic handgun inside his backpack. According to officials, the child recognized the gun as his father’s.

According to his criminal complaint, obtained by NBC10 on April 14, Matthews told officers that “he was cleaning his house and doing home chores,” when he said he misplaced the handgun in his son’s backpack, thinking it was his own.

School administrators locked the gun in a drawer until police arrived, prosecutors said.

“At no time did the gun leave the backpack. The situation was handled swiftly and safely with police involvement. All district policies and procedures were closely followed,” Phoenixville Area School District Superintendent Melissa McTiernan said in a statement. “”We understand how upsetting this is and we are taking the situation very seriously.”

When officers arrived, they recovered the handgun and found that it had a live round in the chamber and a magazine containing four additional live rounds, according to the complaint. Officers also said the gun had a safety mechanisms on the grip and the trigger, both of which must be engaged at the same time to fire the weapon.

After officers interviewed Matthews, he was charged with reckless endangerment of children and recklessly endangering another person, according to prosecutors.

“Matthews admitted to the reckless nature of the handling of the weapon and that he understood the gravity of the incident and the danger that could have happened,” the complaint states.

His arraignment was scheduled for April 23, court records show.