3 Students Charged After Gun Goes Off At Fulton School

ATLANTA, GA -- The Fulton County Schools Police Department will charge three students in connection with an accidental discharge of a firearm that injured two students Thursday afternoon at Banneker High School. At around 3:25 p.m. officers with the department received reports of a "loud pop" coming from a classroom inside the school at 6015 Feldwood Road in south Fulton.

Police converged on the classroom and found a female student suffering an injury to her ankle and another student who was grazed by the same bullet, said Fulton County Schools spokesperson Susan Hale.

Hale told Patch officers searched the room and found a "low caliber handgun" hidden in a box belonging to another student in a bookbag. The injured students were treated for their injuries, and the Schools Police Department plans to file criminal charges against everyone involved in the incident, Hale added.

One student will be charged with one count each of possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon on campus, and two additional students will be charged with reckless conduct "because of their contact with the weapon," Hale said. A fourth student, who Hale notes was "innocently shot in the ankle," is doing fine, as her injury was only superficial. This student will not face any charges.

Bannker's principal and administrative staff continue to review safety policies, including those that address bookbags on campus.

As a whole, Hale said the Fulton County School System regularly reviews policies related to student safety and will continue in that vain in light of Thursday's incident.

"Student safety and security is the district's top priority," she added.

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