A loaded handgun brought to a Hawaii middle school by a student was fired on campus before school started on Monday, narrowly missing one student and leaving another with minor injuries, police said.
The .45-caliber Glock went off when the student carrying the handgun pointed it at another student, and the second student pushed the gun away, Honolulu police Capt. Lester Hite said. The bullet ricocheted off a lava rock wall and went through the jacket of the boy who batted the weapon away.
"The bullet didn't touch his body, but it entered and exited his jacket," Hite said. The boy was uninjured.
The bullet is believed to have ricocheted a second time before hitting another student's right hand and thigh. Scratches to his finger and thigh were treated with bandages, Hite said.
Before the gun was fired, a group of students that included the boy who brought the gun were gathered at the bottom of a stairway near some outdoor basketball courts. The boy had unloaded the magazine, but a bullet remained in the gun's chamber, Hite said.
"He was showing it to a friend," Hite said. "It's unclear if they were playing around."
The 14-year-old who brought the gun to Highlands Intermediate School in Pearl City was taken into police custody. He faces possible arrest on charges ranging from attempted murder to assault to reckless endangerment, police said.
The gun was registered in the name of someone who has a different last name from the 14-year-old, Hite said. It was unclear how he obtained the gun.
The campus remained open while police investigated but some nervous parents chose to pull their children out of school.
"It could've been a lot worse," said Venus Acker, the mother of a seventh-grader. "I'm good now that I have my baby."
Her daughter, 12-year-old Tiffany Acker said she was in the cafeteria when a friend spotted an ambulance. She went to the basketball courts where a crowd had gathered and she saw a boy with one hand wrapped.
The homeroom bell rang at 7:40 a.m., 15 minutes earlier than normal, she said. Students began calling and texting their parents.
"I was scared because I didn't know what was going to happen," she said. "I'm leaving because I don't know what's going to happen. I just want to be out of the area."
Classes continued at the school while police tape blocked off the basketball court area.
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AP writer Jennifer Sinco Kelleher in Honolulu contributed to this report.