School Resource Officer accidentally discharges firearm inside Virginia school
Alexandria, Va. March 14 2018 A police officer at a Washington-area middle school accidentally discharged his firearm on Tuesday morning and is now under investigation for the incident.
The unnamed school resource officer accidentally fired a shot inside his office at George Washington Middle School around 9 a.m., according to the police in Alexandria, Va. Nobody was injured in the incident.
The Alexandria Police Department announced that it is now investigating the incident and has placed the officer on temporary leave. The resource officer is a five-year veteran of the department.
The officer reportedly checked the area for possible injuries immediately after he fired the shot. He then contacted the school administration and his supervising officers to notify them of the incident.
While the Alexandria officer’s mishap was unprovoked, police and school officers around the country have been on the lookout for threats of copycat violence by students in the weeks since the deadly shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla.
The single officer at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School failed to engage the heavily armed shooter who killed 17 students and faculty.
The shooting has sparked nationwide debate over gun control and gun violence, including whether to adopt policies to arm teachers.
Alexandria City Public Schools passed a resolution against gun violence last week calling for action by Congress and the Virginia General Assembly, arguing that “the prevention of gun violence cannot be relegated to local school divisions alone.”
The school district called for universal background checks, a ban on assault-style weapons like the one used in the Florida shooting and for increased federal support for education on gun ownership.