Student wounded by gunshot inside school in Guayaquil: weapon found in bathrooms
A pupil aged between 13 and 14 years old fired at a fellow student in an educational facility in north-western Guayaquil. The victim sustained a gunshot wound to a leg and remains stable.
Shooting at Guayaquil school leaves student wounded in leg
A student received a gunshot wound to one of his legs inside an educational facility located in the Pancho Jácome cooperative, in north-western Guayaquil, in the Florida district. According to elcomercio.com, the incident is said to have occurred approximately a week ago and sparked alarm among teaching staff, parents and pupils at the school.
Paul Melo Bedón, in charge of operational management of the Florida district, stated that a student is believed to have brought a firearm into the establishment and subsequently fired at one of his classmates. Both young people involved are said to be between 13 and 14 years old.
The wounded student is stable and out of danger, according to what Melo reported to local media. The weapon was subsequently located in the institution's bathrooms, together with ammunition.
Police secure the school and activate Shield Plan
Following the incident, the National Police cordoned off the educational institution to maintain order and isolate the young people involved. Teaching staff and students had to take shelter whilst officers controlled the situation.
In the Florida district, six of 140 educational facilities are registered as having high security priority. Faced with this reality, the Police maintain active the Shield Plan, a protocol that authorises officers to enter schools at the request of the head teacher.
"This shield plan is what allows us to be able to enter, to have direct coordination with teachers at the institutions and to be able to control searches, to be able to control facilities within the educational units," Melo explained.
The concern of the educational community is centred on how the student managed to bring the weapon into the school without being detected, a question that authorities have yet to answer publicly.
Source: Google News EC — Guayaquil