Harrison High School student allegedly shoots classmates with orbeez gel gun, faces charges

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- A Harrison High School student allegedly shot two classmates with an orbeez gel gun before class on Thursday, September 18th. Now, one victim’s family is demanding answers, saying even toy guns have no place on school grounds.

"I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat...so many people played it down and you say that until it's your kid, you say that until the kid actually brings a real gun to school, " says Alyssa, a mother of one of the students shot by an orbeez gel gun.

District 2 says the student who fired the gel pellet will be charged by police and face school discipline.

The victim’s family says that while the injury wasn’t serious, the fear was real.

“I'm not very excited with the security of the school...being told by somebody on school campus that they can not control guns going into their school because kids have backpacks,” says Alyssa.

The district says families were notified as soon as security and the school resource officer had all the information. The email from the district was sent just after noon, several hours after the students were shot. 

District leaders say they had to delay family notifications because the injured students left campus before staff had all the details. The email to parents was sent just after 12 p.m., following the incident that occurred at 7:45 a.m.

"Talk to your kids, be a part of their lives, find out what they’re doing, take those extra seven, ten seconds to look in their backpack," says the mother as a message for other parents.

Colorado Springs Police tell KRDO13 that the student will be charged with two counts of city assault, which officials say means the charges are specific to the city and won't be state-level charges. 

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