A 12-year-old student has been charged in Mondays shooting of another student at an East Oakland school. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
OAKLAND — A 12-year-old boy faces several felony charges, including disharge of a firearm, in the shooting of a 13-year-old boy Monday at an East Oakland school they both attend, Alameda County prosecutors confirmed Friday.
Police have said the shooting was not deliberate and that the victim was not an intended target. The youth was not charged with a more serious crime of assault with a firearm, authorities said.
Besides the discharge of a firearm count, prosecutors confirmed the youth was also charged with possession of a loaded firearm in public, possession of a concealed firearm in public and possession of a loaded firearm on a school campus. All of the charges are felonies.
The youth remained in custody Friday at Alameda County Juvenile Hall.
The shooting happened about 1:19 p.m. Monday in an outside quad area of Madison Park Academy, a sixth to 12th grade school at 400 Capistrano Drive in the Sobrante Park neighborhood.
Authorities said the 12-year-old had a semi-automatic pistol in a fanny pack and was showing it to other students when a shot was fired as he was handling it. The bullet struck the 13-year-old, who was more than 40 feet away, in the abdomen. Police have said the two students did not know each other.
The wounded youth underwent a lengthy surgery and remained hospitalized Friday, authorities said.
After the shooting the 12-year-old fled but was eventually arrested at his home. The gun and fanny pack have been recovered, authorities said.
Police are tracing the history of the gun.
School district spokesman John Sasaki said Friday that counselors were still on campus working with students and that school continued the entire week, with extra staff present.
He said the “safety and security of the school community is our top priority. There have been additional staff on campus this week to support security at the school, and the district and the school are working to determine the best ways to improve the security further.”
He did not comment on whether the suspect would be allowed to return to an Oakland school.
Originally published at Harry Harris