Jet Fires at N.J. School During Training

[MrPrax]

LITTLE EGG HARBOR, N.J. - A National Guard F-16 fighter jet on a nighttime training mission strafed an elementary school with 25 rounds of ammunition, authorities said Thursday. No one was injured.

The military is investigating the incident that damaged Little Egg Harbor Intermediate School in southern New Jersey shortly after 11 p.m. Wednesday. The school is a few miles from a military firing range.
<snip>
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. He did not know what led to the school getting shot up.

The plane was 7,000 feet in the air when the shots were fired. The gun, an M61-A1 Vulcan cannon, is located in the plane's left wing. It fires 2-inch-long bullets that are made of lead and do not explode, said Webster.

Yahoo

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

1. Yep, take that blue state!

[flying_blind]

2. Bet this just scares the piss outta Osama...

[burrowowl]

3. Happens all the time

in training, except this firing range happens to be near a populated area.
Is this what they call precision strafing or are they praticin for hitting Iraqi schools?

[umtalal]

5. They are practicing for Iraqi schools.

[eleny]

4. Jesus K. Rist!

[Nordic]

6. graphically symbolic

Bush shoots bullets into our kid's education

[DulceDecorum]

7. It's those Special Ops again.

Always flexing their muscles.
Always picking on civilians.
Always above the law.

[Kool Kitty]

8. Relax! It's just Bush's radical new second phase

of the "Leave No Child Behind" act. (I live in NJ and this is truly frightening. What if the school had been in session or there was some after school activity going on? Why are these training sessions taking place so close to populated areas?)

[LiberalEsto]

9. No Child Left Behind

I thought this strafing thing was part of the new, improved "No Child Left Behind" program.

The way it works is that if they make things too dangerous for kids to be in school, they'll flee (no child left behind), go home, sit down in front of their tvs, and thus prepare for a life of flipping burgers at MacDonalds or stocking shelves at Walmart.

Closing all the schools will drastically reduce those pesky property taxes, too

[Moderator]

10. Duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=958424