12 year old year Hendersonville Middle School boy shoots 12 year old North Carolina female classmate. Girl is shot in the leg as authorities investigate whether shooting was intentional.
A 12 year old boy has is alleged to have shot a 12 year old girl at a North Carolina school inside a gym in front of 35 classmates and staff.
The incident which took place November 24, Tuesday morning just on 7.45 am at Hendersonville Middle School in Hendersonville led to the girl incurring a gunshot wound to the leg WRAL reports.
Human resource officers ran to the gym within minutes and stayed until police officers arrived at the scene. The shooter put his hands on his head and was taken into custody by the school resource officer. Authorities said there was no struggle.
‘This is the type of day that, as a school system, we simply do not want to have efforts to have to respond to, but we are proud to say that’s exactly what took place today,’ Dr. John Bryant with Henderson County Public Schools said.
At the time, there were about 35 students in the gym waiting for classes to begin, Bryant said. The school is following Plan B, with fewer than half of the student body attending in-person classes Nov. 24. The school was put in immediate lockdown following the shooting.
Hendersonville Police Chief Bill Hollingsed said authorities are currently working to determine how and why a child brought a gun to school. The school has security cameras but does not use metal detectors, Bryant said.
‘We are going through witness statements from every single student and faculty member that was inside that gym as well as others to determine just what the intent was of that student,’ Hollingsed said.
Hollingsed added that the gun was a ‘real firearm.’
The suspect is currently being held at a juvenile detention facility, while the victim was rushed to the hospital. She’s said to be in stable condition.
‘Our patient from the event at Hendersonville Middle School is in good, stable condition and resting comfortably,’ Nancy Lindell, Mission Hospital spokesperson, said, according to the Asheville Citizen-Times. ‘Her family requests privacy at this time. Thank you.’
Hendersonville police have said the 12-year-old suspect has been charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill or inflict serious injury and possession of a weapon on campus or other educational property.
Police are still investigating whether the shooting was intentional or accidental, and were gathering witness statements from students and staff in the gym.
