One Dead, One Injured in "Accidental" School Shooting

One student was killed and a second was injured Wednesday afternoon in what was called an accidental shooting at Huffman High School in Birmingham, Alabama, authorities said.

• By Jessica Davis
• Mar 08, 2018

One student was killed and a second was injured Wednesday afternoon in what was called an accidental shooting at Huffman High School in Birmingham, Alabama, authorities said. The injured student was treated and released.

The shooting took place around 3:45 p.m. after classes were dismissed for the day, according to Birmingham City Schools, but many students and faculty were still on campus for after-school activities. The school was briefly locked down and the police were called to the scene.

At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Police Chief Orlando Wilson said they were currently considering the death “accidental.”

“We are not saying [the suspect] shot her or did not shoot her. We are saying shots were fired," Wilson said. “Right now we have a lot of unanswered questions.”

The high school has metal detectors, and school resource officers were on campus when the shooting occurred, according to Birmingham City Schools Superintendent Dr. Lisa Herring.

Wilson said there is CCTV footage from the Huffman campus that, once reviewed by officers, may give a clearer picture of what happened.

The high school is closed Thursday.

The shooting took place a day after Alabama Governor Kay Ivey created a school safety council in Alabama to make recommendations on security. The security plan would work toward updated security response plans for campuses to share information about potential threats, as well as require schools to train students and school employees on emergency response.