An Oxnard elementary school was on lockdown Thursday after a girl out for a break in the schoolyard was struck by a stray bullet from a nearby car-to-car shooting, officials said.
McAuliffe Elementary School went into full lockdown leaving parents to panic after hearing the news. They lined up in front of the school awaiting word on when they could pick up their children after the shooting at 11:20 a.m.
Nueve Duran and her husband, Fred, were among the first parents to show up as word spread that a 10-year-old girl had been struck by a bullet.
She was outside on the school grounds at the time. Duran said friends were giving her updates from their police scanners.
"They were able to contact us and let us know everything's OK," she said.
Chief Scott Whitney with Oxnard police said the student suffered a nonlife threatening injury and she was taken to a nearby hospital.
The bullet that struck the girl had been fired from someone in one car aiming at someone in another car, Whitney said.
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"She is in good spirits. The parents are doing as well as could be expected," Whitney said.
Within a couple of hours, police started letting relieved parents on to the campus in an orderly fashion to greet their children.
"We'll be a lot better, soon as we get to see them in a few minutes," Fred Duran said.
