A kickboxing instructor has been summoned to court after allegedly opening fire on a class of children with his automatic BB gun in the English town of Kingsbridge. The Dartmouth Chronicle reports that the teacher, Peter Sheridan, allegedly shot his BB rifle at 10 to 12-year-old pupils with 70 pellets. Coming near the end of one of his lessons, he reportedly ordered his students to run as fast as they could as he fired at them, leaving three of them with minor marks.
The shootings allegedly took place during a class on December 17, 2016, although Sheridan denies the claims. He says he never fired at the children, telling police that the imitation firearm they found at his home was nothing more than a toy. He is being charged with three counts of assault by battery and possession of an imitation firearm.
Kelly Scrivener, a prosecutor, says the class was business as usual until Sheridan was agitated by one child who refused to follow his instructions. "He said words to the effect 'if you don't do the exercise properly I will shoot you,'" Scrivener said. "He then discharged the gun, firing ball bearings around the sports hall towards the children. Not surprisingly the children cowered behind a curtain and he started hitting the curtain with white plastic 6mm pellets. They were very small and fired in automatic or semi automatic mode."
The children were asked to bow to Sheridan after the ordeal, and police were called shortly after parents discovered the pellet marks. The trial is still ongoing.
