Girl, 8, critical after elementary school shooting

Bremerton Police officers stand near an entrance to Armin Jahr Elementary School, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012, in Bremerton, Wash. A girl was shot in the abdomen at the school and airlifted to Seattle's Harborview Medical Center. / AP Photo/Ted S. Warren

Updated 12:21 a.m. ET

SEATTLE - An 8-year-old girl was shot in the abdomen at an elementary school in Washington state Wednesday afternoon and one of her classmates was detained, authorities said.

The injured third-grader was airlifted to Seattle's Harborview Medical Center.

Authorities said a third-grade boy was being questioned and a firearm was found in a classroom.

The Bremerton Schools superintendent's office said the girl was shot in the stomach. CBS affiliate KIRO Seattle identified the injured student as Amina Bowman, who is in critical condition and is undergoing surgery.

"I ask my friends to pray for her," said Bowman's grandmother Cindy Kocer, as reported by CBS affiliate KEPR Pasco. "She'll be 9 in a couple of weeks."

Affiliate KIRO reported that Bill Poss, the husband of the teacher who was in the classroom when the shooting happened, said the student shooter was a recent transfer at the school.

"I don't know a lot about the kid other than my wife's been coming home talking about him, and he's been a real problem in the class, and she's been very concerned about it," Poss said.

Bremerton police Lt. Peter Fisher said officers and emergency crews were dispatched to Armin Jahr Elementary school in Bremerton around 1:30 p.m. in response to a call that a student was shot and injured by another student. The city is located about 20 miles west of Seattle, across Puget Sound.

The school went into lockdown immediately after the shooting, said Bremerton Schools spokeswoman Patty Glaser. Lockdown procedures call for announcements to be made over the school's loudspeakers and for teachers to lock their classrooms, she said.

Armin Jahr Elementary has about 400 students, Glaser said. She said the school will reopen Thursday and three counselors will talk to teachers, students and parents.

"Our plans at this time, school will continue as usual," Glaser said.

Police were working with the school district Wednesday afternoon to reunite parents with their children, Fisher said, and investigators were interviewing witnesses, which included students.

As of mid-afternoon, parents were still arriving to pick up their children from the school in a quiet residential neighborhood. A police officer was checking vehicles as they entered the parking lot.

Armin Jahr Elementary has about 400 students, Glaser said. She said the school will reopen Thursday and three counselors will talk to teachers, students and parents.

"Our plans at this time, school will continue as usual," Glaser said.

Police were working with the school district Wednesday afternoon to reunite parents with their children, Fisher said, and investigators were interviewing witnesses, which included students.

As of mid-afternoon, parents were still arriving to pick up their children from the school in a quiet residential neighborhood. A police officer was checking vehicles as they entered the parking lot.

[lonestar9000]

The Founding Fathers said that every right listed in the Bill of Rights had the potential to do harm, but that risk was what the people would have to accept if they wanted to live in a free society. I think it was Thomas Jefferson who said that the only difference between a slave and a free man was that the free man was armed. If we did away with the Second Amendement, things might not change for years or decades, but do we really want to take that chance? Freedom lost is seldom regained without a great deal of bloodshed, more than we see from incidents like this.

[obicera1]

Ultimately it comes down to how did a third grader have access to a loaded weapon? If adults are going to have weapons it is their responsibility to ensure they are secured from others.

[cbs_tom]

Rather than focusing on the tool used to perform this crime, I would think that trying to figure out the facts of why an 8 year old boy would want to shoot another child and what kind of parents and homelife are involved. Could this be a result of the immoral character of our nation (hollywood movies and tv, violent video games, relativity of values, and lack of fathers in the childs lives these days? Hate doesn't go away when the tools of the crime dissapear.

[rheola-2009]

Hullo Erasmus.

[erasmus111]

Hi Rheola!

[smittyc]

The 8 years old name was Amina. The elementary school name is Armin Jahr. The nine year olds name not released.

[rheola-2009]

America has 16 times the population of Australia

America has 370 times the gun related deathe of Australia.

America has the N.R.A.

Australia has gun control.

The situation here in America is indefensible.

[rheola-2009]

by mecanik-2009 February 22, 2012 7:49 PM EST

I will help you pack so you can move there.

Your comment is just what any sane person would expect from a person desperately trying to defend the indefensible.

[stray123]

Mexico has strict gun control too! Its a utopia. Lol!

[erasmus111]

It's just never ending, isn't it? The dumb ass es are just too stupid to figure it out.

[erasmus111]

mecanik-2009

Where I live, we have it figured out.

[Fatesrider]

God bless the Second Amendment, right guys?

Because without the Second Amendment, we wouldn't have nearly as many guns floating around to keep us in line. Gotta defend our homes from them damn, commie liberals who want to take away our guns and don't own any, after all. Or the gubernmnent. You never know when you'll have to overthrow some socialist, Muslim jihad dictator what was elected by the people. And if a few tens of thousands of Americans die every year because of it, hell, that's just the price of keeping us SAFE and FREE!

[IEtOut]

So, you are saying that the kid who shot the gun was a legal gun owner? Stupidity is never ending with people like you. How about, instead, you take aim at the parents of this kid? NAAAAHHHH can't do that. EVERYTHING is everyone else's fault.

[erasmus111]

"- should free speech be taken away because a few abuse that right?"

We aren't talking about a FEW that are abusing guns. It's MASSIVE. Every single day there are people dying from guns. Mass shootings at schools and work places. Kids shooting each other on the streets. Like I said, IT'S NEVER ENDING!


"What I want to know is how this kid got its hands on a gun and brought it to class. Why were the parents so irresponsible about access to a deadly weapon?"

Now is that a stupid question, or what? I mean, seriously, how can you possibly ask that question?

It's the easiest thing in the world, for a person to get a gun in America! In a lot of states, there is no age limit for a child to get a gun. In most states, you don't even have to lock them up! Now, when you have so many incompetent parents out there that aren't doing their job, it's SCARY.

And because every fool and whackjob in America can own a gun, it wouldn't be hard to find one.