Schoolgirl shot in face with pellet gun outside school

Gardaí say incident could have been far more serious ‘as pellet hit girl close to her eye’

A 
student
schoolgirl was shot in the face with a pellet gun outside a school in Co Clare. She did not require hospitalisation but visited a local doctor. Photograph: Hugh Macknight/PA Wire
A student schoolgirl was shot in the face with a pellet gun outside a school in Co Clare. She did not require hospitalisation but visited a local doctor. Photograph: Hugh Macknight/PA Wire

Gardaí are investigating an incident in which a schoolgirl was shot in the face with a pellet gun discharged outside a school in Co Clare.

A teenage boy has already been interviewed in relation to the incident, which happened close to St Joseph’s Secondary School in Tulla on Friday afternoon.

Gardaí have said the incident could have been “far more serious as the pellet hit the girl close to her eye”. She did not require hospitalisation but visited a local doctor.

A Garda spokesman said: “Gardaí were notified of the incident which happened after school hours. All those involved are juveniles and students of the school. The pellet gun was discharged in the direction of a group of students and one was hit by a single pellet.”

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“We have interviewed the alleged offender, a juvenile, in the presence of his parents and that matter will be dealt with by our juvenile liaison officer.”

“Pellet guns can very very dangerous and cause serious injury and that could easily have happened in this case.”