Pistol’s safety catch may have stopped boy, 12, from shooting teacher

A 12-year-old boy in Iowa is charged with attempted murder after trying to shoot his teacher in the face on Aug. 31, according to multiple news organizations.

They are not naming the boy because he is a minor.

According to The Washington Post, the student at North Scott Junior High School in Eldridge, Iowa, showed up to class one morning with a gun, ordered his classmates to the ground and aimed at his teacher, pulling the trigger. The Post cites court documents in its report.

As the room held its breath, the gun failed to fire and this is because the firearm’s safety was on, the Post reports.

Investigators found a loaded .22-caliber handgun at the scene, the Post reported. The incident forced the school into lockdown.

The boy is due to appear in juvenile court on Monday on charges of attempted murder and having a weapon on a school campus, according to WQAD. A judge will figure out next month if the boy’s case will be moved to adult court, although prosecutors are asking that he be tried as a juvenile. In the meantime, he is being held at a juvenile detention center in Scott County, Iowa, the Quad-City Times has reported.

Residents and officials have been so shaken by the incident that school district officials have implemented a safety plan, Eldridge Police Chief David Kopatich and North Scott schools Superintendent Joe Stutting said in a statement last week, according to the Post.

Officials have provided no information as to a possible motive but Stutting told the Post that she conducted herself heroically.

“The teacher in the room – the decisions that she made – made all the difference in the world,” Stutting said.

The boy’s lawyers say all weapons have been removed from his home, the family is seeking mental health treatment for him and he will be home schooled, the Quad-City Times reported.