Mother uses gun against schoolgirls

A woman carrying a gun arrived at an elementary school classroom in Yokneam Friday and proceeded to attack two 6th grade girls with the weapon's handle for socially shunning her daughter.

The girls were lightly injured and were taken to the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa. The school principal and another parent present at the scene managed to stop the woman and snatched the gun from her hand. She was turned over for police questioning and later brought before a Nazareth court for a remand hearing.

Afula Police chief superintendent Yossi Shavit said that the gun contained a magazine which apparently fell during the incident and noted that the mother confessed to the allegations.

Police forces were rushed to the scene and detained the woman. The girls sustained light head injuries and were treated at the scene before being take to hospital.

The schoolgirls after being bandaged in the hospital (Photo: Hagai Frid)

Security breach

The police investigation aims to discover how the woman managed to enter the school courtyard with a weapon inside her purse without raising suspicions.

According to the Afula police the school guard said he knew the mother, who regularly escorts her daughter to school, and for this reason did not search her bag.

Education Ministry Northern District Chief Dr. Orna Simhon told Ynet that an inquiry committee will be set up on Sunday to investigate the incident. She noted that to the best of her knowledge the mother attacked the girls for "harassing her daughter."

She further noted that immediately after the incident the school supervisor, district security officer and psychological experts arrived at the school. Dr. Simhon explained the security breach by saying that a parent-student fair was held at the school during the day and repeated the guard's story.