Kindergartner brings loaded gun to school, injures three

Damn, they sure do start em on guns EARLY in Texas! This was the lead story yesterday in the Houston Chronicle:

Houston Police Dept probing how kindergartner brought gun to school

Five-year-old Jarneshia Broussard was eating her lunch, a hot dog and beans, with her kindergarten class Tuesday when she heard a loud "pop" in the Ross Elementary School cafeteria.

The little girl at first thought a light blew out. Then she recognized the sound.

"I knew it was a gun because a gun goes 'pow,' " she said. "I got really scared."

A loaded pistol had dropped from the pants pocket of a 6-year-old male classmate and discharged, slightly injuring him and two other pupils in the legs or feet, officials said.

The three children — believed to have been hit by a single bullet or fragments — were in stable condition, smiling and playing video games, by Tuesday afternoon, said David deLemos, a trauma specialist at Texas Children's Hospital.

Investigators were trying to determine how the boy obtained a gun and brought it into the northeast Houston campus without anyone stopping him — sending fear through students and parents who trust that school is a safe place.

The boy's parents could not be reached for comment. Officials with Texas Child Protective Services plan to question the family within 24 hours, said agency spokeswoman Gwen Carter.

"It would be a concern about supervision, how a child gained access to a gun and was able to transport it," she said. "In cases like this, we look to the parents to try to understand what has happened."

A relative who would only identify herself as an aunt confirmed that the boy had brought a gun to school and still was in the hospital Tuesday evening.

For having a gun on campus, the boy could face a year-long expulsion to an alternative school, according to Houston Independent School District policy.

The Houston Police Department, which is leading the investigation, would not release details, including the type of gun or the owner.

Also see earlier article: Child, 6, brings gun to school

Three children grazed by bullet after kindergartner brings gun to school

NPR: The Two-Way News blog