A Plymouth judge barred a Detroit police officer from possessing any of his nine firearms, including his service weapon, and ordered him to surrender the guns that remained in his possession.

The ruling came after prosecutors alleged the officer’s 3-year-old son found a loaded handgun in a backpack at a Canton daycare and passed it to other children.

Judge Joe Barone of 35th District Court issued the order Thursday, Oct. 1, during the arraignment of Brandon John Ely, 28, and Rabab Ibrahim Al Zayad, 27. Both face misdemeanor charges in connection with the Monday, Sept. 28 incident at Children's World Early Learning Center on Sheldon Road in Canton Township.

Defense attorney Colemon Potts asked Barone twice to let Ely keep at least one gun. Potts told the court Ely had served eight years with the Detroit Police Department (DPD), four as a detective and four in special operations, and proposed storing the service weapon in a locked safe at the department rather than at home.

“At this stage, I’m going to make this a complete restriction,” Barone said, according to a syndicated Detroit News report.

Ely told the judge he owns nine guns kept in three safes at his home, according to the Detroit Free Press. Canton Township police already had the pistol recovered at the daycare. Barone ordered Ely to surrender the remaining firearms immediately and report to the police station for fingerprinting.

The DPD said Ely has been placed on "administrative duty, no gun status" while the department reviews the matter.

Ely was charged with one count of fourth-degree child abuse, a one-year misdemeanor. Al Zayad was charged with one count of unsafe storage of a firearm, a 93-day misdemeanor. Both received $10,000 personal bonds, according to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office.

The charges are allegations, and both defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

Canton police responded to the daycare at about 8:55 a.m. Monday, Sept. 28, after staff reported a child holding a holstered handgun. Prosecutors allege the boy found the unsecured gun in a backpack stored in the classroom and passed it to other children before a teacher intervened. No one was injured.

Canton Police Chief Joseph Bialy confirmed the recovered firearm was privately owned, not department-issued. Bialy credited the daycare's protocols and an instructor in the room who removed the firearm from the toddler with preventing a tragedy, according to ClickOnDetroit.

Al Zayad told the judge the order barring them from visiting the daycare was moot because both children had already been disenrolled from the facility.

Michigan’s safe-storage law, which took effect in 2024, requires a firearm left unattended where a minor is or is likely to be present to be stored in a locked box or container, or kept unloaded and secured with a locking device. A violation can carry up to 15 years in prison if a minor obtains and discharges the firearm and someone is killed, according to Michigan law.

A pretrial conference is scheduled for Oct. 30 at 9 a.m. before Barone in 35th District Court. Canton Township also provides information about firearm safety and free gun locks through its public safety resources.