Police have praised the efforts of a Waikato teacher who disarmed a student after the boy confronted a class of children with a BB gun.
The 14-year-old will appear in the Hamilton Youth Court on Tuesday.
The Eastern Waikato area commander says the student entered the grounds of Paeroa College on Monday morning armed with a plastic spring-loaded imitation pistol which fires plastic pellets.
Inspector Dana McDonald says it appears the boy, who is a pupil at the school, entered a classroom with a bandana over his face and threatened another 14-year-old boy by pointing the weapon at him.
The boy then shot three pellets at the other student's head and face before turning the gun on the teacher, who grabbed the boy and disarmed him after he had shot the wall several times.
Mr McDonald told Radio New Zealand's Checkpoint programme the teacher's actions are commendable.
"We'll never say that people should jump in and put themselves in harm's way. The teacher ... was obviously confident enough to take the actions that he did.
"It was fantastic - it stopped any injury from happening, stopped the incident straight away."
Mr McDonald says the student who was fired at was not injured, but was visibly upset. Victim Support is providing assistance.
