Newark high school student injured in drive-by shooting during evacuation for reported gas leak
NEWARK, N.J. -- A Newark high school student was shot and injured during a school evacuation on Monday.
A report of a gas leak at Central High School prompted the schoolwide evacuation at around noon.
According to police, someone driving by shot the 15-year-old boy in the shoulder as he and the rest of the students waited around the perimeter of the school.
"Everything was normal and then poof, chaos," said Wilneidys Alcerro, a student.
Chopper 2 showed the aftermath of the shooting as police swarmed the high school.
"I was walking by and I saw them on the ground," Alcerro told CBS New York. "I didn't hear any gunshots ... Kids started running, the security guards started telling us 'Go inside guys! Go inside!'"
Terrified parents rushed to pick up their children. Many said they found out about the shooting when their children called them.
"My wife just told me to go pick up my son, and I'm really shocked about this one. I don't know what to say," one father said.
"I don't know what to say. I'm glad to see my child is fin and OK," another father said.
An email from a parent showed the school did notify parents of the shooting at 1:30 p.m., roughly 90 minutes after it happened.
"It went out as it would be normally scheduled to go out. The reality is that students on street side are getting on the cellphones and notifying their parents, as I would expect them to do. That occurred before the district's notification," said Newark Public Schools Superintendent Roger Leon.
District officials said the student who was shot was in stable condition.
The investigation into who was behind the shooting is ongoing.
PSE&G said it investigated and found no gas leak at the school.
