3 Calif. kids hurt when gun on cop's motorcycle fires

Michael Winter | USA TODAY

Three California elementary school students suffered minor injuries Wednesday when a gun mounted on a police motorcycle discharged during a safety demonstration at an anti-drug event.

The students were not hit by gunfire in the "accidental misfire" at Newman Elementary School about 11:15 a.m. PT, said Chino Police Department spokeswoman Tamrin Olden. Two were treated at a hospital for cuts and one was treated for cuts and scrapes at the school, said a fire district spokeswoman.

"The weapon was mounted to a police motorcycle on display during Red Ribbon Week activities," a nationwide drug-prevention campaign for students, Olden said in a statement that did not explain how the gun discharged or why a loaded weapon was brought into the school. Police and school officials are investigating.

"We're still sorting out the extent of the injuries and how it happened," Olden told the Los Angeles Times.

"It's kind of strange that a gun would have been accessible, or not cleared, prior to doing the demonstration," parent Tim Everman told KTLA-TV when he came to get his son.