National Guard warplane shoots up school in training blunder

A US National Guard F-16 fighter jet on a night training mission strafed a primary school with 25 rounds of ammunition. No one was injured.

The military is investigating the incident that damaged Little Egg Harbour Intermediate School in southern New Jersey shortly after 11pm on Wednesday. The school is a few miles from a military firing range.

Police were called when a custodian who was the only person in the school heard what sounded like someone running across the roof.

Police Chief Mark Siino said officers noticed punctures in the roof. Ceiling tiles had fallen into classrooms, and there were scratch marks in the asphalt outside.

The pilot of the single-seat jet was supposed to fire at a ground target on the firing range three and half miles from the school, said Col Brian Webster, commander of the 177th Fighter Wing of the New Jersey Air National Guard, which is responsible for the range.

Schools in New Jersey were closed yesterday because of a teachers’ convention.