Teacher Accidentally Fires Gun in Classroom, Injuring Three

A teacher accidentally discharged a firearm while teaching a public safety class at a Northern California school on Tuesday, according to police.

• By Jessica Davis
• Mar 15, 2018

A teacher accidentally discharged a firearm while teaching a public safety class at a Northern California school on Tuesday, according to police. Three students were injured, though none of the injuries were serious, police said.

Dennis Alexander, who is also a reserve officer with the Sand City Police Department, was teaching a course about gun safety for his Administration of Justice class at Seaside High School in Seaside, California, when he pointed his gun toward the ceiling and accidentally fired it, according to police chief Abdul Pridgen.

A 17-year-old student was injured by a bullet fragment or by debris that fell from the ceiling, Pridgen said. The student’s injuries appeared superficial and were not life-threatening.

Monterey Peninsula Unified School District sent a letter to parents to notify them that its human resources department, the high school’s administrators, and the Seaside Police Department “immediately began investigating the incident, including interviewing students in the class.”

"I think a lot of questions on parents' minds are, why a teacher would be pointing a loaded firearm at the ceiling in front of students," Monterey Peninsula Unified School District Superintendent PK Diffenbaugh said. "Clearly in this incident protocols were not followed."

Alexander has been placed on administrative leave from his teaching job and at the Police Department, according to both school and police officials.