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‘Shots fired’ at Wash. school was only toy gun

The SWAT team responded to the incident only to find a cap gun

Associated Press

VANCOUVER, Wash. — The initial 911 report from the Vancouver, Wash., elementary school was alarming: shots fired at a school playground. That had police and SWAT officers scrambling Tuesday morning - only to find the weapon was a bright orange cap gun.

Police and school officials say a second-grade boy at Eleanor Roosevelt Elementary School brought the gun and apparently pointed it at two 6-year-olds and fired it, discharging smoke.

The two students told a playground supervisor that another student had fired a gun at them - and the response took off from there. Police spokeswoman Kim Kapp says, “When you have that type of a call, there’s no waiting.”

A SWAT sweep and school evacuation began, but officials say students were back in class a half-hour later.

District spokeswoman Kris Sork says school officials met with the boy and his parents to determine possible punishment.