Gun goes off in Minnesota classroom after first grader brought it from home

A handgun brought to school by a first grader at Crossroads Elementary School in St. Paul, Minnesota discharged in a classroom full of students on Thursday morning.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune said that no injuries were reported, but police and school officials are investigating the incident to determine how the 7-year-old student obtained the weapon.

Sgt. Mike Ernster -- a spokesman for the St. Paul police -- said that his department received a call around 8:40 a.m. that a child had brought a gun to school, but that, "Thankfully, no one was hurt."

An official statement from the department said that the child's family is cooperating fully with the investigation to determine who owns the gun -- which the Twin Cities Pioneer Press identified as a .38 caliber handgun, how the child got access to it and how future incidents can be prevented.

“Today we got lucky,” said the statement, “but this incident should still serve as a powerful reminder to anyone who owns a gun to keep it safe, secure and out of the hands of children.”

School officials confiscated the weapon right away, said St. Paul School District spokeswoman Toya Stewart Downey. She said that there were no threats to staff or other students in connection to the gun being inside a school building.

In an email to the families of Crossroads Elementary students, principal Celeste Carty wrote, "Understandably, students were upset. Our district crisis team and the police reassured the students that they were safe, that everything was OK and answered questions.”