Ex-Janitor Charged for Bringing Gun to Milwaukee School, Injuring Student
Two former St. Josaphat teachers also face one misdemeanor count each of failing to report child abuse or neglect after the incident.
One teacher told police that the bullet went through her classroom wall and missed a student's head by about a foot.
A former janitor has been charged after bringing a loaded gun into a middle school in Milwaukee in early April.
The gun went off, injuring a 10-year-old student at St. Josaphat Parish School, reports ABC WISN.
Heriberto Martin admitted to carrying a gun inside the school, according to a criminal complaint.
One teacher told police she heard a gunshot and saw the bullet go “through a wall approximately one foot from a student’s head, traveling through a second student’s jacket and backpack and finally striking a third student in the side.”
The student was thankfully left with non-life-threatening injuries.
Martin told investigators that he took his .380-caliber semi-automatic pistol with him to school because he wanted to use his work tools to fix an issue with the gun’s slide.
In the complaint, Martin said the gun went off while he was working on it.
“The defendant stated that he had made a mistake and had no-one to blame but himself,” the complaint said.
Martin was charged with possessing a gun on school grounds and if convicted, he faces up to three and a half years in prison or a fine of up to $10,000.
Police said they were not notified about the shooting until 12 days after the incident, but the archdiocese disputed their statement.
The injured student’s mother also claimed school administrators told her that her daughter was hit by flying debris and not a bullet.
Two former teachers, Lisa Sarenac and Carolyn Trawitzki, face one misdemeanor count each of failing to report child abuse or neglect, reports the Journal Sentinel. They could face up to six months in jail and fines of $1,000.
An investigation by the state Department of Public Instruction is pending.
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About the Author
Katie Malafronte, Web Editor
Katie Malafronte is Campus Safety's Web Editor. She graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 2017 with a Bachelor's Degree in Communication Studies and a minor in Writing & Rhetoric. Katie has been CS's Web Editor since 2018.
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