Three elementary students in California were taken for medical treatment after one of their classmates got a hold of a police officer’s AR-15 as he was giving a safety demonstration and fired a round.
The children were injured by flying debris, not bullets, but the incident was serious enough to send two to the hospital. The third, meanwhile, was sent to the school nurse with scrapes and abrasions, The Daily Mail reported.
Newman Elementary School is located in Chino, a city in San Bernardino County.
A police spokeswoman, Tamrin Olden, said the officer’s weapons was mounted on a rack on his motorcycle, and presented as part of a drug-prevention presentation at Newman Elementary School on Wednesday. One of the children listening to the officer sneaked up and pulled the trigger. The bullet smashed a metal plate that then shattered and sent debris flying in to the audience.
The child who pulled the trigger was frightened and took off into a field on the school campus, The Daily Mail said.
Chino police didn’t say why the weapon was still loaded during the presentation. City officials say they are investigating.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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