A semi-automatic handgun accidentally went off inside a 12-year-old girl's backpack at a Los Angeles school, sending a single bullet tearing through the wrist of another girl before hitting a boy in the head, police say.
Los Angeles police spokesman Josh Rubenstein says detectives are now looking into where the girl got the unregistered gun from and why she brought it to school. It's also not clear what made the gun go off.
The girl, who was taken into custody minutes after the shooting, has retained a lawyer and isn't answering questions, Rubenstein said.
She is expected to be charged on Monday with being a minor in possession of a firearm and having a weapon on school grounds, prosecutors said.
Jordan Valenzuela, a 12-year-old classmate of the girl's, told The Associated Press that he was in the room next door when the gun went off and talked to her minutes later.
"She was crying," Jordan said.
"She was like, 'I didn't mean to. I had the gun in my backpack and I didn't know it was loaded and my backpack fell and the gun went off."'
Jordan said he saw a hole in the backpack, which the girl was holding, when she asked him to hide the gun for her.
"I said 'No,"' he said. "Then I moved away from her because I was a little bit scared."
The shooting sent children screaming and crying from the classroom as blood poured from the two students who were hit. Police descended on the school, which was put on lockdown, and the girl was arrested without incident.
Terrified parents rushed to the campus and waited for hours to be reunited with their children. Once they did, many children and parents sobbed as they hugged, walking from the school as they held each other.
The 15-year-old boy who was hit in the head with a bullet initially was in critical condition but a doctor treating the boy said he's expected to fully recover.
The wrist wound to the 15-year-old girl was considered minor. Three others had superficial face or head injuries, some from broken glass.
