Warning: The following story discusses weapons inside schools and may be sensitive to some readers. Viewer discretion is advised.
A Maryland elementary school student was sent to a local hospital Wednesday morning after a gun accidentally discharged inside a classroom.
Police were called to Freetown Elementary School in Glen Burnie (roughly 11 miles south of Baltimore) about a half-hour after classes began Feb. 6. Anne Arundel County police spokesman Justin Mulcahy told WBAL-TV that preliminary investigations found a 7-year-old child brought a weapon from home and unintentionally injured himself with it.
The child was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Although there were 15 other students in the classroom when the gun discharged, none were injured. There were also no indications that any staff members were injured, though it remained unclear whether an adult was in the room at the time of the incident.
“A 7-year-old child gained access to a firearm, discharged it in a school, a classroom filled with children,” Anne Arundel County Police Chief Amal Awad said. “We should not be having this press conference with you right now. How did a 7-year-old baby get hold of a firearm and make it all the way to school?”
A firearm accidentally discharged in a classroom at Freetown Elementary School, injuring a seven-year-old child, the Anne Arundel County Police Department confirmed Wednesday.
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The accidental discharge occurred at about 8:30 a.m. Freetown Elementary School opted for an early dismissal around 11:15 a.m.
“There’s a lot of trauma — not only within the students who were in this building, but also the faculty and staff,” Anne Arundel County Public Schools Superintendent Mark Bedell said. “I can assure you that my reaction would have been exactly what these parents were reacting, filled with a boatload of fear.”
It was not known as of publication whether the child would face discipline. The reason the child had the gun was also unclear. As of Thursday afternoon, there had also been no updates on the child’s parents or guardians and whether they could face legal repercussions.
Although the school acknowledged the incident in a letter to parents, it had not elaborated on specifics as of Thursday afternoon. The letter simply explained why students were being sent home early.
A firearm went off in a Glen Burnie elementary school Wednesday, injuring a 7-year-old boy in the discharge, police said.
Anne Arundel County Police said the second grader discharged the gun in a classroom at Freetown Elementary School around 8:30 a.m.
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Justin Smith, a father who picked his daughter up early, called the experience “very overwhelming” when he spoke with WBAL-TV.
“I was saying that gun owners [have] to be more responsible because there’s no reason that an elementary school student is coming to school with a loaded gun,” Smith said. “I mean, [you have to] go through more security to go to a Ravens game.”
Freetown Elementary School was expected to operate on a regular schedule on Thursday and Friday. It was unknown whether the student who brought the weapon to school attended classes Thursday.
