Schoolboy shot in sniper State

A 13-year-old boy was today critically wounded in a shooting outside a Maryland school – an area near Washington where a sniper shot and killed six people last week.

There was no immediate word on whether the shooting was related to the series of sniper attacks.

The boy was wounded in the chest and abdomen outside Benjamin Tasker Middle School in Bowie, said Mark Brady of the fire department.

“The child is suffering from extensive blood loss and is in critical condition,” Brady said.

The boy’s mother took him to Bowie Health Centre, a small hospital.

A Maryland State Police helicopter was to fly the child to a hospital specialising in traumatic injuries, Brady said.

Last week, five people were shot to death by a sniper in a 16 hour span in neighbouring Montgomery County.

A sixth victim was killed on Thursday in Washington. On Friday, a woman was shot and wounded in Virginia.

Ballistics tests have linked all the shootings.