STA, 26 April 2022 - A 13-year-old student has sustained light injuries when a shot was inadvertently fired from a pistol on Tuesday morning in a primary school in Žužemberk, a small town about 50 kilometres south-east of Ljubljana.
The accident was the result of careless handling of the weapon brought to school by a 14-year-old student. The firearm went off in a changing room in the presence of multiple students, Novo Mesto police spokesman Robert Perc said.
When the pistol went off, a bullet was fired into the floor and fragments ricocheted into the leg of one student, who was taken to hospital. His injuries were not severe.
Perc said the weapon was a 1990s 9mm pistol from Croatia believed to belong to a late relative of the student who brought it to school.
Police are now trying to determine who is responsible for the pistol being stored in an old abandoned house. "Weapons are not toys and should not be in the hands of minors," Perc said.
A criminal investigation is under way.
