A girl aged six was shot and killed by a six-year-old boy in front of her teacher and first grade class yesterday, Michigan police said, the latest in a series of shootings to hit US schools.
Law enforcement officials said there may have been a scuffle between the boy and the girl the day prior to the shooting, which occurred around 10 a.m. (3 p.m. Irish time) at Buell Elementary School, north of Flint, Michigan, in a working-class neighbourhood.
"There may have been some sort of scuffle or quarrel on the playground the day before the shooting between this little boy and this little girl," Mr Arthur Busch, Genesee County Michigan Prosecutor told a news conference.
There were no other injuries. Only one shot was fired, said police, who took the suspected assailant into custody.
It was not clear how the gun was brought into the school, and police did not name the assailant or the victim.
The girl was pronounced dead at Hurley Medical Centre in nearby Flint, at 10:29 a.m. Hospital officials would not release further details.
Ms Amy Lamoreaux (15) who baby-sat the victim described the little girl as a happy child who liked to play with dolls.
"I think it's sad. She wasn't old enough to die. She didn't have a life yet," said Ms Lamoreaux, who planned to ask her parents to take her out of the local school district.
"If it can happen in elementary, it can happen to the other schools here," she said.
About 22 students were in the classroom at the time of the shooting. Police evacuated the rest of the school, but detained the students who were in the class for counselling and further questioning. After the shooting, anxious parents rushed to the school, located about 65 miles north of Detroit. Although the school, which has 450 students from kindergarten to fourth grade, has security guards, it does not have metal detectors.
"We have a security force," said Superintendent Ira Rutherford. "You must remember that we're dealing with children K (kindergarten) through fourth grade. So your concerns about security are mainly in terms of protection of the children rather than introduction of a weapon or something like that by a child."
Michigan has no minimum age in waiving juvenile offenders into adult courts. If the boy is charged as an adult with murder or manslaughter, he could be legally sentenced to life in prison, though more likely he would be ordered held until age 21 or sent to a foster home.