A 13-YEAR-OLD girl was shot at with an air rifle as she walked home from school through Woolley Colliery.
Lauren Beverley, a pupil at Darton ALC, was walking on Woolley Colliery Road when the incident happened at the hands of teenage boys last Wednesday afternoon.
Mum Jo, who served in the Medical Corps and underwent weapons training, said: "She's only got a nasty bruise but looking at the size of the marks it is probably a .22 calibre.
"When Lauren came in the door and her eyes were all glassy, I asked if she was okay and she said 'no mum, someone has shot me'.
"As a parent I panicked and she showed me her injury where she's been hit in the back of her upper right thigh. She's been very lucky."
Jo, 36, of Rosefield Avenue, Woolley Grange, contacted the police and the matter is being looked in to.
She said: "From my point of view, both me and my husband are both ex-forces and have had extensive weapons training and I can tell you now that to aim and pull the trigger at someone, no matter what calibre it is, is not something to be sniffed at.
"Yes it might be an air rifle but it is still a weapon that is designed to maim and kill.
"I am annoyed at these boys' parents who have a responsibility to teach them how to use an air rifle safely.
"It is quite a serious offence and yes she may only have a bruise but it could have been a very different outcome."
