Two Students Suspended in Firing of Gun : Violence: The Woodbridge High School teen-agers face expulsion for bringing a semiautomatic handgun on campus. No one was hurt in the accidental shooting.

Two Woodbridge High School students were suspended Monday and face expulsion after one of them brought a semiautomatic handgun on campus last week and accidentally fired it during a biology class, police and school officials said.

No one was injured during the incident, which occurred Friday following a dare between the two boys, officials said. Both were arrested and later released to their parents.

“We were just so lucky that a tragedy was averted,” said Irvine police Sgt. James S. Broomfield. “These kids have no idea of the finality of what their actions might lead to.”

Woodbridge Principal Greg Cops said that “it’s frightening to think that kids can make a lot of bad decisions, but there is not a lot of panic” on campus as a result of the incident.

Officials said the teen-agers, ages 15 and 16, live in Tustin Marine Corps Air Station base housing. Neither has any gang connections or a police record, officials said. Because they are minors, they were not identified.

School officials said both teen-agers face expulsion as part of the Irvine Unified School District’s “zero tolerance” policy against firearms on campus.

According to Broomfield, the two youths had been talking about guns when the 16-year-old dared the 15-year-old to get a Beretta 9-millimeter semi-automatic handgun from a locked gun case at his uncle’s house on the Tustin base.

Somehow, Broomfield said, the younger teen-ager removed the pistol from the case and brought it to school Friday. He displayed it during a fourth-period biology class, where a video was being shown, according to Cops.

While the teacher was just outside the darkened classroom talking with another student, the 15-year-old handed the weapon to the 16-year-old under the table they shared, Cops said.

The 16-year-old returned it to the 15-year-old, who then cocked the gun, sending a round into the chamber, Broomfield said. Unable to release the hammer, the 15-year-old removed the ammunition clip and, apparently thinking that all the bullets had been removed, pulled the trigger, firing a round into the floor, Broomfield said.

“There was this pop from in front of the room,” Cops said. “At first, everyone thought it was a firecracker.”

The sound was heard in several classrooms, drawing an assistant principal who entered the classroom within moments, Cops said. As the video continued to play, the assistant principal began interviewing students, allowing them to go to lunch after the class ended.

School officials were still investigating the incident during lunch, when a school safety officer received a tip from a student that “it wasn’t a firecracker--it was a gun,” Cops said.

When Irvine police arrived, they examined the hole and found metal fragments, which they said came from a bullet. The police then went to the base, where they seized the Beretta and arrested the 15-year-old on suspicion of possessing and discharging a firearm on a school’s grounds.

On Sunday, police returned to the Tustin base and arrested the 16-year-old on suspicion of possessing a firearm on a school’s grounds.

“The family members have been very cooperative,” Cops said of the parents of the student who brought the gun to school. “They are very upset about what happened.”

Although a state law that went into effect last year holds parents criminally responsible for shootings involving their children, Broomfield said he anticipates no legal action against the parents or the gun’s owner.

Cops said that both students were suspended Monday. He said he will recommend that they be expelled from the school district, but he added that a final decision would be made in an administrative hearing.

Last month, the Irvine Unified School District sent students a letter reiterating its “zero tolerance” policy about weapons in school, warning of expulsion for bringing weapons to school.

Cops said this is the first time a gun has ever gone off at the 1,670-student Woodbridge campus, adding “it’s scary.”

Also on Monday, a school psychologist met with the biology class to discuss the incident. A second psychologist was on hand in case other students wanted counseling. So far, no student has requested a session with either psychologist, Cops said.

The incident at Woodbridge High comes as city and school officials are grappling with ways to deal with youth and violence.

Earlier this year, a report on youth violence was released by the city’s Safe Community Task Force, a committee made up of city and school district officials.

The task force made more than 50 recommendations for reducing youth violence from beefing up school security to teaching students about ethics and nonviolent conflict resolution.