A teacher in Northern California has injured three students after he accidentally fired his gun during a public safety lesson.

Dennis Alexander, who also works as Seaside City's interim mayor and a reserve policeman, was allegedly pointing the firearm upwards to make sure it wasn't loaded. He was attempting to show the students how to disarm someone when it went off.

The Seaside Police Department said one student suffered moderate injuries during the March 13 incident, including a 17-year-old when the bullet ricocheted off the ceiling and became lodged in his neck.

"It's the craziest thing. It could have been very bad," the boy's father, Fermin Gonzales told KSWB.

Shockingly, Gonzales said no one contacted the students' parents to informing them of the incident, including himself. He added that he was stunned when his son returned home with bullet fragments on his neck and blood on his shirt. Gonzales rushed him to the hospital for treatment and to have X-rays taken.

"He's shaken up, but he's going to be OK," he said. "I'm just pretty upset that no one told us anything and we had to call the police ourselves to report it."

Luckily, the incident wasn't swept under the rug.

According to the police and schools officials, Alexander has been placed on administrative leave at both the high school and the Sand City Police Department.

"I have concerns about why he was displaying a loaded firearm in a classroom. We will be looking into that," Sand City Police Chief Brian Ferrante said.

The police department aren't the only people voicing their concerns over the distressing incident.

"I think a lot of questions on parents' minds are, why a teacher would be pointing a loaded firearm at the ceiling in front of students," Superintendent PK Diffenbaugh said. "Clearly, in this incident, protocols were not followed."

In the state of California, teachers aren't allowed to have a firearm while at schools, even if they have a concealed carry permit. While people across the country are divided over educators carrying concealed weapons when on the job, Gonzales said his son's injuries have helped him make up his mind.

"I was kinda leaning toward having armed people in school in case something happened. After today, I get why people say there should be no guns in schools," Gonzales said. "If there's an accident -- people could die. If it's just one, that's more than enough."

Do you think guns should be kept in school?

[H/T: KSWB, The New York Times]