A teacher at a middle school in the Bronx was grazed by a stray bullet Wednesday as he was preparing his classroom for the school year
According to the New York City Police Department, the teacher, who is 33 years old, was hit with the bullet around noon Wednesday. The bullet shattered a window in his classroom, which is located on the sixth floor of the building, and it grazed his hand.
Police said he was transported to St. Barnabas Hospital to be treated for what they said was a non-life-threatening injury. He was listed as being in stable condition.
No students were in the school at the time the incident occurred. Classes at New York City’s public schools didn’t begin until Thursday of this week.
At a press conference, police officials clarified that the “bullet was not fired inside the school, and at this point in the investigation, we believe it was fired from a long distance away. The school was not targeted.”
Local media outlet WABC reported that police were going through an apartment complex that is located across the street from the school, floor by floor. They believe that the shot was likely fired from somewhere in that apartment building.
Thus far, no one has been arrested, as the investigation is still ongoing.
Following the incident, a spokesperson for the New York City Department of Education issued a statement that read:
“This egregious display of violence is both upsetting and reprehensible. NYPD immediately responded to the scene where one educator sustained non-life-threatening injuries. We will provide additional support to this school community.”
The incident at the Bronx school happened the same day as the mass shooting at a high school in Georgia that left two students and two teachers dead, while injuring nine other people.
The suspect was identified as Colt Gray, a 14-year-old who attended the school, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Gray is in custody and is being held at a juvenile detention facility. Authorities have said that he will be tried as an adult and charged with murder.
A press conference was held on Thursday afternoon in Georgia, at which Jud Smith, the sheriff of Barrow County, said authorities first received reports of the shooting at 9:30 a.m. He called the shooting an “evil thing” and that the investigation is still “active and ever-developing.”
While the New York City shooting wasn’t a targeted mass shooting at a school, it’s nonetheless concerning to city officials and residents.
Between 2013 and 2021, there have been 848 gunfire incidents that have happened on school grounds, according to the nonpartisan organization Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund.
Of those incidents, 573 happened on the grounds of a high school, middle school, elementary school or preschool. They resulted in 188 people dying and 392 injured, with almost half of those victims being students.
