Prosecutors: Gun went off in girl’s backpack at LA school
LOS ANGELES — A semi-automatic handgun went off accidentally inside the backpack of a 12-year-old girl in a Los Angeles middle school classroom, sending a single bullet tearing through the wrist of another girl before hitting a boy in the head, police said Friday.
LOS ANGELES — A semi-automatic handgun went off accidentally inside the backpack of a 12-year-old girl in a Los Angeles middle school classroom, sending a single bullet tearing through the wrist of another girl before hitting a boy in the head, police said Friday.
Los Angeles police spokesman Josh Rubenstein said detectives are trying to figure out where the girl got the gun, which was unregistered, and why she brought it to school. It wasn’t clear what made it fire.
The girl, who was taken into custody minutes after the shooting, has retained an attorney and isn’t answering questions, Rubenstein said. She is expected to be arraigned Monday on two felony charges, including being a minor in possession of a firearm and having a weapon on school grounds, prosecutors said.
Jordan Valenzuela, a 12-year-old classmate of the girl’s, told The Associated Press that he was in the room next door when the gun went off and talked to her minutes later.
“She was crying,” Jordan said. “She was like, ‘I didn’t mean to. I had the gun in my backpack and I didn’t know it was loaded and my backpack fell and the gun went off.”’