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F-16 fires 25 rounds at school -- nobody hurt
November 5, 2004
BY WAYNE PARRY Advertisement
LITTLE EGG HARBOR, N.J. -- A National Guard F-16 fighter jet on a nighttime training mission strafed an elementary school with 25 rounds, authorities said Thursday. No one was injured.
The military is investigating the incident that damaged Little Egg Harbor Intermediate School shortly after 11 p.m.
Police were called when a custodian who was the only person in the school at the time heard what sounded like someone running across the roof.
The pilot of the single-seat jet was supposed to fire at a target on the ground 3-1/2 miles away from school, said Col. Brian Webster, commander of the 177th Fighter Wing of the New Jersey Air National Guard. He does not know what happened that led to the school getting shot up.
''The National Guard takes this situation very seriously,'' said Lt. Col. Roberta Niedt, a spokeswoman.
School board President Mike Dupuis said he's mindful that a firing range is nearby.
''Being so close to the range, that's always in the back of our minds. It is very scary." AP