Sen. Lautenberg Wants Action
Calling the actions of the pilot "totally incomprehensible," Lautenberg, D-N.J., asked the District of Columbia Air National Guard to suspend all training operations over New Jersey skies until an investigation into Wednesday's mishap is completed.
The senator also demanded a "guarantee that nothing like this can ever happen again."
A spokesman for the unit, Capt. Sheldon Smith, did not return telephone messages seeking comment Friday. New Jersey National Guard officials referred all inquiries to the 113th wing, which is based at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, which is where the jet came from.
Also, NBC 10 now has photos of shell holes in a New Jersey school's roof that came from the shooting on Wednesday.
The photos show large holes in the roof. The holes are outlined in colored chalk, apparently as part of an investigation.
The holes apparently came from the shells that were discharged into the school by a National Guard fighter flying 7,000 feet above and nearly 4 miles from the school.
The school will now reopen on Monday after the incident, which made national headlines.
Parents whose children attend the New Jersey intermediate school want answers after the National Guard jet fighter shot up the school during a practice run.
"Thank God, no children were in the school," says Roy Williams, one concerned parent interviewed by NBC 10's Aditi Roy. Several custodians were in the school during the late-night incident and weren't hurt.
The Little Egg Harbor Intermediate School was closed Friday, according to its Web site, and still surrounded with crime-scene tape.
The National Guard F-16 fighter jet on a nighttime training mission Wednesday fired 25 rounds of ammunition that tore through the school's roof. No one was injured.
"We know the gun fired," said Col. Michael Webster of the New Jersey National Guard. "We don't know why. When we know we more, we will get back to you."
In this town of 15,000, parents are also school leaders and are anxious for answers.
"It's very scary. Myself, I have children in the school and relatives that work there," said school board president Mike Dupuis.
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