A mother was arrested in Port Richey on Oct. 16 after authorities said she left three young children in a car for hours with a loaded gun inside.
Courtney Galhouse, 36, was charged by the Pasco County Sheriffs Office with three counts of child neglect.
The children, ages 4, 5 and 7, were discovered by a witness running around outside the vehicle, according to a Sheriffs Office report.
The children had been left in the running vehicle for several hours. Galhouse said she brings the children with her all the time, and they typically sit in the vehicle, the report stated.
Galhouse also left a loaded firearm in her purse, which one of the children was sitting on.
Galhouse said she should have brought the children inside but did not want to get in trouble with her boss.
She added that she should have moved the gun but had forgotten.
She was booked into the Pasco County Jail.
The report did not say where the children were taken.
