Girl Shot At Day Care Center

The father of an 8-year-old who accidentally shot a 7-year-old classmate at a suburban Washington daycare Tuesday was arrested on gun charges and police said charges were likely against the boy.

John L. Hall, 56, of Germantown, was charged with leaving a firearm in a location accessible by an unsupervised minor, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and possession of a firearm by a felon, according to Montgomery County police.

The boy had the gun in a backpack and was playing with it when it went off at the For Kids We Care center, Montgomery County police spokesman Derek Baliles said.

The girl was hit in the arm and was taken to Children's Hospital in Washington, he said. Her injury was not considered life-threatening.

The boy remains in police custody. Police have "initiated a number of charges against him," according to a news release, which said the case will be handled by the Department of Juvenile Services.

There were six children in the center at the time of the shooting, which happened around 7 a.m. No one else was hurt.

"He began to play with it inside the backpack when it accidentally discharged, with the bullet going through the backpack and into the arm of a seven-year-old female," Baliles told CBS Radio News.

Officers interviewed the boy Tuesday afternoon to find out how he got the weapon and how it was fired.

Names of the children, both from Germantown, a suburb of Washington, were not released. They were dropped off by their parents at the center, which provides care before school hours as well as daylong care for younger children.

Police spokeswoman Nancy Nickerson visited the scene shortly after the shooting and said the children were watching television.

"The day care provider there did an excellent job of keeping the children safe and secure and calm," she said.

For Kids We Care Inc. operates two medium-size daycare centers in Germantown, according to its Web site.

A parent whose son was in the daycare center said her son did not see or hear anything at the time of the shooting, reports CBS News affiliate WUSA reporter Emily Schmidt. Jackie Tazwell said she would bring her son back to the daycare because the people that run it are "very, very good people."

"I'm a little concerned, of course, I'm just a little flustered right now, and nervous." Tazwell, who came to pick up her child at the center, told Washington-area television stations. "But things like this happen. It's a blessing that the little girl is O.K."

The center has been licensed by the state since August 2003, said Bill Reinhard, a spokesman with the Maryland Department of Education.