3 Students Shot After Gun Brought to School by 6-Year-Old Accidentally Fires

Three students were shot Tuesday after a gun brought to school by a 6-year-old boy accidentally went off, school officials said.

The incident occurred Tuesday morning at Ross Elementary School in Houston.

"A Ross kindergarten student brought a loaded handgun to school today," Houston Independent School District spokesman Jason Spencer said in a statement.

"The weapon fell to the ground and fired during the lunch period around 10:22 a.m., injuring three kindergarten students, including the child who brought the gun," the statement continued.

The firing sprayed fragments at the students, said Houston Independent School District Assistant Police Chief Robert Mock.

"They had some cuts and stuff on their legs, they don't appear to be life threatening," he added.

Two 6-year-old boys were wounded, including the one who had the gun. The boy who brought the gun was injured in his foot and the other boy was grazed in his leg, said Sam Sarabia, the elementary chief school officer for the Houston school district. A 5-year-old girl was injured in her knee, he said.

All three children were put on stretchers and taken in ambulances to be checked out at a hospital. The students were sitting up and appeared to be talking with emergency personnel as they were wheeled away.

Upset parents rushed to the school in northeast Houston where yellow crime scene tape was strung and more than a dozen police and district patrol cars were parked.

Kennedi Glapion, 6, who was being picked up from school by her grandmother, said she saw the gun after it fell under a cafeteria table.

"It dropped on the floor, under the table. It was loud, it was so loud," said the kindergartner, who added that after the gun went off she was scared and started crying.

A district spokeman said that the kindergartner could face disciplinary action including being sent to an alternative school for up to 180 days. He said that no punishment has been decided yet.

Police are investigating how the boy obtained the gun.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.