An elementary school in California was placed on lockdown after a 10-year-old student was struck by a stray bullet fired from a car.

The victim was taken to a nearby hospital with a non-life threatening injury, as police launched an investigation into what they described as a car-to-car shooting.

Officers said the victim's parents had been notified, and all other students at Oxnard's Christa McAuliffe Elementary School have been accounted for and are safe.

In a statement issued shortly before 11.30am, a spokesperson for the Oxnard Police Department said the agency was in the initial stages of an investigation.