RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KNX) — Police arrested a 12-year-old boy for firing a gun on the campus of Loma Vista Middle School Wednesday, saying that the shot wasn't intentional but the weapon fired as he was showing it off to other students. No one was injured.
"A 12-year-old male student was attending an afterschool program when he began showing off a firearm inside his backpack while sitting at a table," Riverside Police said in a statement. "As he reached into the backpack, the gun fired and struck the table then the ground."
Several officers responded just after 5 p.m. to the school at 11050 Arlington Avenue and the school immediately went into lockdown and evacauted students from the classroom while police investigated, RPD said.
The gun involved in the shooting was found discarded on campus.
Following Riverside County’s "School Threat Assessment and Response (S.T.A.R.) Protocol," officers conducted a safety assessment of this student’s home with cooperation from his family and found additional firearms in the house.
All were collected by officers for "safekeeping," according to the police department.
The student, whose name has not been released, was arrested and booked into a Riverside County juvenile detention facility for "negligent discharge of a firearm within an occupied building and possession of a firearm on a school campus."
"Many students present were shaken by what occurred and safely released to their parents or caregivers," Allan Mucerino, district superintendent of the Alvord Unified School District, said in a statement to police.
"The school principal notified all families and staff of this incident, and a team of counselors will be present on campus throughout the day to provide counseling and support services to students and staff."
Following the accidental shooting on campus, police urged all families with guns and children in their home to properly secure and store their weapons so that they are not accessible to children. Storage tips can be found here.
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