Authorities in Ghana have detained a senior high school student after he allegedly shot his classmate with a gun he brought to school. According to Asaase Radio, the incident occurred at the Bantama Seventh-day Adventist Senior High School in Kumasi, the capital city of the West African nation’s Ashanti Region.
The gun in question belonged to the detained student’s father, authorities said. The weapon is said to have gone off during a break-time argument between the suspect and fellow students over the weapon’s authenticity.
“Preliminary investigations reveal that a 16-year-old second-year student (name withheld) brought a locally manufactured pistol loaded with one BB round to school. The student allegedly attempted to show the firearm to a classmate. During the exchange, the weapon accidentally discharged, injuring another student,” police said in a statement, per GhanaWeb.
In the wake of the incident, an irate mob tried to assault the student who brought the gun to the school, but teachers ultimately saved him before police detained him.
The injured students were transported to a hospital to receive medical treatment. “All names of those involved are being withheld. The injured student was treated at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and is currently in stable condition. The juvenile suspect has been arrested, and the empty cartridge has been recovered and retained as evidence,” the statement added.
“Some of the students rushed to us and reported that two students were arguing about whether the gun was real and capable of firing. Suddenly, the weapon went off, and the pellets spread to the face of one of the victims, a girl, and another student,” a witness also told Asaase Radio.
Police in their statement also said that during questioning, the suspect said that he “took the weapon from his father’s bedroom without his father’s knowledge.”
“Authorities are actively working to locate and arrest the father to assist with the investigation,” the statement added.
