Viraldice: School Shooting by 12-Year-Old Girl in California Is Now Being Called ‘Accidental’

t was a scenario out of every parent's worst nightmare.

This Thursday, a 12-year-old girl was arrested in connection with a school shooting that left one boy critically injured and four others wounded.  And it was all an accident, according to reports.

Just before 9 a.m., police received a report of shots fired at Salvador Castro Middle School in the Westlake District of Los Angeles. Authorities rushed to shut down the campus of 365 students.

The shooter was a 12-year-old girl. She’d brought the gun to school in her backpack, but it went off after she set it on the ground, striking a 15-year-old boy in the head. He’s in critical condition, but is expected to make a full recovery.

A 15-year-old boy shot is expected to survive after a 12-year-old girl accidentally discharged a gun in her California classroom. https://t.co/Aen2QBF6gI

— AP West Region (@APWestRegion) February 2, 2018

The bullets also hit a 15-year-old girl in the wrist, and other victims included an 11-year-old boy, a 12-year-old girl and a 30-year-old woman, all of whom sustained “minor abrasion injuries”, according to the Mercury News.

As per NPR, the Associated Press reports:

“[Police] spokesman Josh Rubenstein says the 12-year-old girl arrested in Thursday’s shooting was being booked on a charge of negligent discharge of a firearm on school grounds.

“Twelve-year-old Jordan Valenzuela, a classmate, tells The Associated Press that he talked to her just after the shooting.

“He says she was sobbing and kept repeating, ‘I didn’t mean it.’ He says she told him that the gun was in her backpack and that it accidentally went off when she dropped the bag.”

“As a parent, this is everyone’s worst nightmare,” Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Robert Arcos said in a statement to the public.