Boy, 11, fired handgun while walking home from middle school, police say

An 11-year-old Bristol Township boy fired a handgun walking home from the Ben Franklin Middle School on Tuesday afternoon, police said.

There were no injuries and authorities said it was not a “targeted shooting.”

The middle school, on Mill Creek Road, was closed Wednesday after district officials went to remote learning. Police presence and patrols was increased at all district schools, police said.

The child fired the gun about 4 p.m. in the 100 block of Goldenridge Drive, Levittown. Officers were called there to investigate a bullet hole through an exterior bedroom wall in a home in that neighborhood, police said. A .38-caliber handgun was retrieved. The boy was taken to the Bucks County Youth Center.

The Bristol Township School District, calling the case an “evolving matter,” updated parents on its website Wednesday morning.

“There were and are no active threats against any (Bristol Township School District) school,” it said.

There are some details not yet known, including where the child got the gun or whether he had with him at school or retrieved it after classes let out.

The school district, in a press release late Tuesday, told parents:

“We respect and understand that this is a concerning and distressing development. Counseling services are always available for any child through our guidance office or the school administration.”

JD Mullane can be reached at 215-949-5745 or at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Levittown boy, 11, fires gun, hits house, police say. What we know