NSW: Girl critical after schoolyard crossbow attack

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NSW: Girl critical after schoolyard crossbow attack

EDS: Changes ages of victims on updated police information

By Janine O'Neill

SYDNEY, April 3 AAP - A 16-year-old NSW schoolgirl was critically wounded today whena crossbow arrow fired by a fellow student passed through her chest and hit another pupilin the leg.

Witnesses said a teenage boy chased students around a high school near Port Stephens,north of Newcastle, before shooting one girl through the left side of the chest.

Police said the arrow passed through her body before lodging in the leg of a second16-year-old girl at the Tomaree High School at Salamander Bay.

Witnesses said another student stopped the attacker as he tried to light a petrol bomb.

Both girls were taken to Newcastle's John Hunter Hospital, where the student with chestinjuries was in a critical condition.

Police said a 16-year-old boy taken into custody after the 8.15am (AEST) shooting wasa student at the school, and as many as 100 teenagers may have witnessed the attack.

One police spokesman said the boy and the first girl shot knew each other.

"They certainly knew one another," he said, but refused to confirm whether the attackerand the seriously injured girl had once dated.

One caller to Sydney radio 2GB, who said his nephew was a student at the high school,said a senior student tackled the boy as he was about to light a petrol bomb.

"The alleged offender apparently chased the girls around the school," the caller said.

"There's a hero at the school, a Year 12 boy at the school ... who has tackled thisoffender while he was trying to light a petrol bomb.

"It could have been horrendous."

Another caller described the scene and its aftermath as similar to a war zone.

Sandy Roache, the mother of one student, said her daughter sent her a mobile phonetext message at about 8.20am saying she had seen a girl shot.

"And I went over to my sister's across the road to show her the text and I (sent a)text back, `are you joking?'," Ms Roache told AAP outside the school.

She said her daughter had told her the attacker was not very popular, while other studentsdescribed him as a loner.

Police said a number of students managed to overpower the boy and hold him until police arrived.

It had not yet been revealed whether the illegal weapon was home-made or shop bought.

The school principal was not available for comment today but an education departmentspokesman said parents had been encouraged to take their children home.

Spokesman Sven Wright said a substantial number of the school's 1,100-odd pupils hadleft for the day.

Counselling was in place for remaining staff and students.

An ambulance spokesperson said rescue authorities were called in to cut the arrow fromthe second girl's leg before she could be taken to John Hunter Hospital.

AAP jo/dr/nf/sp/de

KEYWORD: CROSSBOW SECOND LEAD