Three Banneker High School students have been charged after a gun accidentally went off and a bullet hit two of them in a classroom.
One student was charged with possession of a weapon and the two others were charged with reckless conduct, Channel 2 Action News reported. Their names have not been released.
School police responded about 3:25 p.m. Thursday to reports of a “loud pop coming from a classroom,” Fulton County Schools spokeswoman Susan Hale said. A low-caliber handgun was found hidden in a box in a student’s bookbag.
Amaya Willis, 15, was struck in the leg by the bullet and is in a wheelchair, Channel 2 reported. Another student was grazed by the bullet.
“I looked down and I was bleeding,” Willis told Channel 2. She said she didn’t know she was shot until paramedics examined her.
Doctors have not removed the bullet from her leg “because it would cause more damage,” Willis said. “They told me I need to keep it checked.” A bandage covers Willis’ wound.
Her mother, Celita Willis, said she plans to take her daughters out of the school.
“I’m just thanking God it was to her leg,” she said. “It could’ve been fatal.”
Backpacks were banned from the school Friday.
— Staff writers Lauren Foreman and Ellen Eldridge contributed to this article.
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