NEWTON COUNTY, Miss. (WJTV) – A community is still shaken one day after a six-year-old was shot at an elementary school.
Newton Elementary School was closed on Friday, the day after the shooting. The injured boy was taken to a Jackson hospital for treatment and underwent surgery on Friday.
Police classified this case as an accidental shooting. They said a child brought a gun to school on Thursday.
According to a statement from the Newton Municipal School District, the gun was discharged in the student’s backpack, and the shot hit the six-year-old in the leg.
Parents said shootings at schools are alarming, but they are even more concerned that it happened in their close-knit community.
David Hill said, “The violence has got to stop between the kids, the adults. I have a 12-year-old daughter. Parents should be able to send their kids to school and know that they’re going to be okay.”
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI) is handling the case.