COLUMBUS, Ohio – A gun in a bookbag discharged in an elementary school classroom Monday and the second grader who brought it was shot in the hand, police said.
The injury to the 7-year-old was not believed to be life threatening. Police are not certain why the gun went off.
"It happened in the classroom, just as they were taking their coats off," police Sgt. David Sicilian said.
Columbus schools did not cancel classes, but some parents took their children from Leawood Elementary School (search). There were 15 children in class when the gun went off at 9 a.m., Sicilian said.
The child was taken to Children's Hospital, but the mother would not authorize the release of any information about the child's condition, said Amy Ranalli, a hospital spokeswoman.
Police have the .45-caliber pistol (search) and were talking to the boy's mother, said Sherry Mercurio, a police spokeswoman.
"She indicated she had no idea where the weapon came from," Sicilian said.
Kim Bell, 46, standing outside of the school with her fourth-grade son, said teachers tried to keep the shooting quiet so not to scare the other children.
"It's a very good school, very good teachers. It's not a school a kid would bring a gun to," she said.
She said she heard about the shooting on television and rushed to the school, which is just around the corner from her home.
School officials said a letter detailing what happened would go home with students at the end of the day.
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