A firearm accidentally discharged inside a student’s backpack at Challenger Elementary School on Thursday afternoon.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — A firearm went off inside a second graders backpack at Challenger Elementary School Thursday afternoon. According to Huntsville City Schools, the incident happened as students were in the hall getting ready to leave school for the day. The system said the incident happened at around 2:45 p.m.

During morning arrival, the Evolv weapons detection system alerted staff to a weapon in a student’s backpack. The system is an AI-powered security screening technology that quickly scans individuals for concealed weapons using sensors and machine learning, allowing for high-throughput, non-intrusive threat detection.