7-Year-Old Who Brought Gun To School Hurt In Shooting: Police

Updated at 1:56 p.m.

GLEN BURNIE, MD — The gun that accidentally discharged inside a classroom in Glen Burnie on Wednesday was brought to school by the student who was injured during the incident, Anne Arundel County Police said.

First responders reported at about 8:30 a.m. to Freetown Elementary School, where they found a second-grade student who injured their hand when a firearm accidentally discharged inside the classroom.

Police said the student did not have life-threatening injuries. Other students were present in the room, but none were hurt by the gunshot.

A teacher took possession of the firearm and gave first aid to the student, police said, later taking the child to the nurse's office.

Officials are investigating the case as an accidental shooting and are still working to determine how the gun came into the student's possession or how it was discharged.

"We're just very grateful that this incident didn't evolve into something even worse," Anne Arundel County Police Chief Amal Awad said at a media briefing. "We know that bullets don't discriminate."

Mark Bedell, the superintendent of the Anne Arundel County Public Schools, said crisis counselors would be on campus Thursday as the elementary school returns to normal operating hours.

Bedell said the school system has been working with local organizations that are focused on implementing safety measures to protect against gun violence.

"This is just something that is becoming more and more common in this country and it's unacceptable," Bedell said. "We have an opportunity as a community to come together and to do everything we can to prevent these types of scenarios happening in our schools."

Bedell said the incident did not mark a "flaw within the security measures" at the school.

"It's a much bigger conversation, as a community, how we all come together to really prevent this from happening," he said, underscoring the county's goals on best practices when responding to such incidents.

A message issued by the Anne Arundel County Public School system said the school began dismissing all students at 11:15 a.m., with bus riders returning home on their normal routes.

Families who needed to make alternate arrangements for students were urged to contact the school.