Mid-morning classroom chaos erupts as a 7yo fires a gun, but a teacher’s quick actions saved the day

A heroic educator of a Maryland elementary school acted immediately to secure the firearm and then jumped in to assist the injured child, an action that absolutely saved the other students present in the second-grade classroom. A 7-year-old student accidentally fired a gun inside the classroom, causing immediate chaos, per Fox.

The shocking incident took place at Freetown Elementary School, where authorities confirmed that the young boy, a second-grade student, was the one in possession of the weapon and sustained an injury to his hand when the gun discharged. While the child was taken to the hospital, his injury was thankfully reported as non-life-threatening, and crucially, no other students were hurt.

The official response to the emergency was immediate and intense. Anne Arundel County police confirmed they received calls around 8:30 AM reporting shots fired at the school, and officers were able to arrive on the scene within a lightning-fast six minutes of receiving the initial distress calls. Anne Arundel County police spokesman Justin Mulcahy confirmed that the student had the gun in the classroom and that it discharged at some point during the early morning.

Kids shouldn’t have weapons of any kind

This whole scenario shouldn’t even be happening in a school, because we shouldn’t be worried about school shootings in this day and age. Police Chief Amal Awad made that sentiment crystal clear in his statement following the event. The chief expressed profound frustration over the circumstances. “A 7-year-old child gained access to a firearm, discharged it in a school, a classroom filled with children,” Awad stated.

He added, “We should not be having this press conference with you right now. How did a 7-year-old baby get ahold of a firearm and make it all the way to school?” That question is the one everyone’s asking right now, and it gets right to the heart of how terrifying this situation is for parents and educators.

Anne Arundel County Public Schools Superintendent Mark Bedell explained that the decision was made to dismiss all students early at 11:15 AM because of the emotional toll. The school district decided that the priority needed to be addressing “a lot of trauma,” not only among the students who were present but also among the faculty and staff who witnessed the event.

Superintendent Bedell completely understood the parents’ fear and anxiety over the incident. He publicly stated that he could assure them his own reaction would have been exactly what these parents were experiencing, “filled with a boatload of fear.”