Father Appears in Court in Md. Daycare Shooting

GERMANTOWN, Md. -- A father whose son is accused in a daycare shooting spoke out in court on Thursday, while prosecutors allege the father -- a convicted felon -- had a powerful and dangerous influence on the boy.

Relatives of the 8-year-old boy accused of shooting a 7-year-old girl spoke outside Montgomery County District Court. The boy's father, 56-year-old John Linwood Hall, repeatedly interrupted his bond hearing by saying "I got to get out! I need my child!"

Hall has been charged with weapons violations and leaving a gun where a child could get to it -- although he denies showing the boy how to use it.

His sister, Darlene Hall says the boy learned how to load and operate a gun from a video by the rap star 50-Cent. The boy's in the custody of Juvenile Services.

The boy came to For Kids We Care Inc. daycare center at 7 a.m. Tuesday with the gun, along with bullets, in his backpack. He was handling the gun inside the backpack when it went off, firing a bullet that struck a 7-year-old girl in the arm.

She suffered non life-threatening injuries and was released Wednesday from Children's Hospital.

Police searched Hall's apartment, which is in the same block as the daycare center, after the shooting. Under Maryland law, it is a misdemeanor to store a gun in a place where an unsupervised child can access the weapon. The punishment is a $1,000 fine.

Hall has an extensive criminal record dating to the 1960s, according to charging documents. It includes several convictions of assault with intent to maim and gun charges. He could be sentenced to five years in prison if convicted of being a felon in possession of a handgun and three years on the delinquency of a minor charge.

Charging documents said there were "numerous" other weapons Hall's home that his son had access to.

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