Miami Senior High School Student Shot While Skipping School

MIAMI(CBSMIAMI)—-Authorities say an 18-year-old boy who was part of a group of students cutting classes at Miami Senior High School on Friday morning was wounded in the forearm when a gun apparently discharged by accident at a home.

Miami Police say it happened at a home near Flagler Street on N.W. 24th Avenue less than 2 blocks away from the high school at 10:02 a.m.

They say the gun was either being given a safety inspection or was being cleaned by an adult when it discharged. Police say the student was at a friend's home near the school.

CBS4 was on the scene when a man was taken into custody for questioning.

Miami Police Officer and spokeswoman Kenia Fallat told CBS4's Peter D'Oench it is not known if the gun was stolen or if the owner had a permit for it. Detectives will also try to determine if there was negligence.

Fallat said "There are a lot of things that we need to take a look at and we can not reiterate enough that anytime you are handling a firearm it is important to do it when you are alone or you are n a safe location. We don't know where the person was pointing. We don't know who the gun belongs to."

Chopper 4 showed at least five students being questioned by police. Eventually, they were placed inside police cars and taken away.

Kenny Castro, a 12th grader at Miami Senior High School, said students were talking about the fellow student who was shot.

"He does go here to school," he said. "He is 18 and we know him as Chris. I thought this was crazy. You can't be playing around with guns. You just don't know because people can get hurt. This could have been worse. That gun could have gone off again and hurt another person. There is no point in skipping school. Everyone knows it is senior year but you do not want to skip school."

Fellow 12th grader Daniel Kranwinkel said, "This makes no sense. You should stay in school. You also have to keep guns away from kids. That is common sense."

Emmanuyah Sparks, a 10th grader, said, "Stay away from friends with guns and stay away from guns. That's how I feel. I mean this is crazy. This was not supposed to happen. There is a lot of gun violence going on and you have to be careful about your surroundings."

The 18-year-old student had not been identified.

As of late Friday afternoon, the man who was taken into custody was still being questioned by Miami Police.

Spokespersons for Miami-Dade public schools said the students who skipped school will be disciplined under the code of student conduct.