A newly hired monitor at Farley Elementary School in Stony Point was fired and arrested after allegedly carrying a handgun inside a bag brought to campus during a work shift. Police said another district employee tipped off Stony Point police at around 10 p.m. on Nov. 5, setting off an overnight investigation that ended with the monitor in handcuffs before dawn the next day.
The monitor was arrested around 3 a.m. on Nov. 6, according to lohud.com, after detectives went to the person's home in Garnerville. Police described the employee only as a 36-year-old Garnerville resident; neither investigators nor the school district publicly identified the person by name, and that detail remains undisclosed in reporting on the case.
Detectives recovered the bag containing the handgun during their visit to the employee's residence, the outlet reported. Police said the firearm itself was legally owned, and that the employee held a valid Rockland County pistol permit — but one restricted specifically to “Possess on Premise,” meaning it did not authorize carrying the weapon into a school building.
Three Charges Filed, Bail Set at $15,000
The employee now faces felony third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, along with misdemeanor charges of second-degree reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child. Bail was set at $15,000 cash or $100,000 bond, and the person was being held pending transport to Rockland County jail, per the same account.
North Rockland Superintendent Kris Felicello confirmed the district terminated the employee following the incident. Felicello also said the weapon was never displayed and that no students or staff members were threatened during the monitor's shift, an important distinction investigators and school leaders both emphasized.
Court Date Set as Case Moves Forward
A Stony Point Justice Court appearance was scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, the same day this report was filed, though the outcome of that hearing was not available in the record reviewed. Daily Voice reported it had reached out to Stony Point police for further information on the case.
New York law prohibits unauthorized possession of firearms on school grounds, a restriction reflected in the state's criminal statute covering weapons in educational settings, according to the New York State Senate.
The case remains open as it heads through Stony Point Justice Court, with the district already having taken its own action by removing the employee from the payroll. For now, the central facts remain as police and school officials have described them: a brand-new hire, a bag that wasn't supposed to carry a weapon onto campus, and a colleague whose tip triggered the overnight arrest.
