By: Nyima Sillah
An official source has confirmed to The Voice that no one was injured from the Wellingara Lower Basic School gunshot on Monday and a child as claimed wasn’t shot in the arm.
“It is important to give correct information to the public rather than fake news. Any information provided to the public should be the truth. If you want to tell the true story of an event you should ask the relevant source or sources on the ground, though it might not be possible for everyone to be at the scene of an incident at the same time, there is a need for accuracy,” an official source who wants to remain anonymity stated
The source emphasized that “No one was wounded and the child was not aiming to shoot the teacher. The child took the pistol from their house; as a small child, we know that anything they see, they would like to play with it. He might think it is a toy gun and put it in his bag (negligence of the parent), and bring it to the class. He was seated beside the teacher. As the teacher was marking, he removed the gun and shot at his classmate,” Official source narrated to The Voice on Tuesday following the incident on Monday.
“The moment he did that, he ran away, but this morning I received information that he was taken to the police station. He is not yet back in school as the police are still investigating the matter. The mother is pregnant and that is why she is not detained,” the official source added.
The official source further explained that the incident happened around 10:30 am to 11:00 am and the gun used by the student was loaded but they are not sure of what it was loaded on whether it was chemical or gunpowder, but noted that the child shot had instance irritation on his face and he was rushed to the Fajikunda hospital and “nothing happened to the child as he was attempted, treated and discharged.”
“The experts came to the scene, and did their work, and we had our normal morning lessons and the afternoon class also took place until 6:00 pm. It is the responsibility of the parents to properly inspect the bag of their children or wards before leaving home. Thus, the incident did not disrupt our classes, and the school head and teachers were able to control the tension within the school,” the official source affirmed.