School should be a safe place for children. Unfortunately, history has shown us that this is not always the case. However, parents trust that the administration has measures in place to protect their loved ones in case of emergency and anything else.

Accidents happen, of course. But we usually trust authority figures to prevent these accidents, not to cause them. This was the exact opposite of what happened at a school in Delaware. The peace officer tasked with making sure the lot was safe discharged his firearm in the middle of a school day.

A parent has shared the shocking email they received from their daughter’s school.

A parent went to the “Slightly Annoying” Reddit forum. to share a screenshot of an email they received from their daughter’s school.

The shocking information was delivered without much emotion.

Reddit

“We would like to inform you of an incident that occurred at school earlier today,” the email read. “As he holsters his weapon, our school police officer’s firearm was accidentally discharged down the hall.”

“We are relieved to say that no one was injured and the students were safe in the classroom at the time,” the email continued.

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Somewhat ironically, the email went on to describe how important safety was to the school.

“The safety of our students and staff is always our highest priority and we have taken steps to review our safety protocols,” it said.

“Thank you for your understanding and trust in us“, he concluded.

The parent later confirmed in a comment on the post that the school was Stanton Middle School in Wilmington, Delaware.

The Delaware News Journal reported that the email was written by Stanton Middle School Principal Matt Robinson. Robinson assured the parents that a full investigation would be done into the case. “We have contacted the Delaware State Police to launch a thorough investigation in accordance with county and law enforcement protocols,” Robinson said.

Other Reddit users who commented on the post with the email were quite incredulous about this major lack of security measures.

“Nothing could ever be more comforting than knowing that the shooting at your child’s school was just an accident – whoopsie!” one person said sarcastically.

Another added: “‘Thank you for trusting us,’ said the school you shouldn’t trust.”

Yan Krukau | Pexels

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Some found the school’s apology lacking.

Some Redditors took issue with the idea of ​​the cop repositioning his gun when he accidentally fired.

“What exactly does ‘holstering the weapon’ look like?” one person asked. “All my weapons fit pretty well in their holsters.”

“‘While carelessly playing with his gun, our school police officer carelessly fired a round in the hallway,'” said another, editing the text of the email. “There, I fixed them.”

The Delaware News Journal also investigated the possibility that the gun went off in the accident.

“Unless a firearm has been modified, the only way to make a modern handgun fire is to pull the trigger,” they said, noting that there is a firing pin block that prevent a gun from firing without pulling the trigger.

“It’s also what makes accidental discharges from holsters relatively uncommon, though not unheard of,” they added.

With school shootings on the rise, this was undoubtedly a scary situation.

Although nothing bad happened and supposedly no one was in danger, just hearing a gunshot in a school would be terrifying for students, teachers and administrators.

According to CNN“There were at least 69 school shootings in the United States so far this year, starting on October 28. Nineteen were on college campuses, and 50 were on K-12 school grounds.”

These shootings resulted in 34 deaths and 86 injuries.

Thirdman | Pexels

With the possibility of a school shooting already on everyone’s mind, hearing a gun go off must have been nothing short of terrifying.

While thankfully this was just an accident, it’s hard to write it off as such when the stakes are so high.

The parent who shared the email on Reddit said in response to a comment that they had heard the police officer had been “quit,” but could not confirm that. Although it seems like harsh revenge for an accident, the problem is so serious that it would be the only way to solve it.

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Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer for YourTango covering entertainment, news and human interest topics.