12-Year-Old North Carolina Student Arrested For Bringing Gun To School, Shooting Classmate

A 12-year-old North Carolina student was arrested after he allegedly brought a firearm to school and shot his classmate in the leg Tuesday.

The incident took place at Henderson Middle School in Henderson County at around 7:45 a.m. ET. Officials from the Hendersonville Police Department responded to an incident involving a firearm on the campus and took the unidentified student suspect in custody, Henderson County Public Schools and Hendersonville Police Department said in a joint statement. Police seized the firearm from the 12-year-old suspect.

The victim, also aged 12, was transported to a nearby hospital and was reportedly in stable condition as of Wednesday. Authorities placed the school under lockdown after the shooting, the statement also said.

It wasn't immediately clear what triggered the suspect to carry out the shooting. According to the police, the incident is under investigation. It was also not known what charges were levied against the detainee.

"As is always the case whenever school communities experience traumatic events, our school psychologists, school social workers, and school counselors with the district's Crisis Team are available to talk with students and staff today, and will continue to provide support to students and staff," the statement read.

In September, a 12-year-old Florida student was arrested and charged with possession of a firearm on school property for bringing at least three guns to school. The student of Lighthouse Christian School in Callahan was arrested after a teacher spotted two firearms sticking out of his lunchbox, with authorities discovering the third firearm with the child later.

When the school staff searched the student's desk, they found a drawing of a man armed with a gun outside of a school and surrounded by several dead bodies. The mother of the student told the authorities that he had accidentally killed the family's dog before bringing the firearms to the school.