The seventh-grade student who brought an Airsoft pellet pistol to the Thomas J. McDonough School in Hartford on Thursday morning had used it to shoot paintballs at classmates the previous day, according to police.
Authorities said the 11-year-old boy had used the paintball gun to shoot at three female classmates who were walking home on Hillside Avenue the day before. Police said pellets struck one of the girls, but she was not hurt.
The next morning, administrators suspected the boy might have the gun in his backpack, so they called school security and Hartford police to investigate.
Police said the student tried to run and "threw items around the main office" when school staff first confronted him. Officers arrived at school and found the pellet pistol in his bag.
The student was suspended from school and referred to juvenile court. He was charged with reckless endangerment, second-degree assault, second-degree breach of peace, two counts of second-degree breach of peace, two counts of carrying a dangerous weapon and possession of a dangerous weapon in school grounds.
