Replica Civil War gun fired in class

REED POINT, Mont., March 9 (UPI) -- A Montana superintendent of schools said his replica black powder muzzleloader accidentally fired off a round while he was showing the weapon to a class.

Reed Point School District superintendent Dwain Haggard, a former Civil War re-enactor, said he has brought his Civil War memorabilia to Reed Point High School's American history class every year since he took office in 2007 but Friday's lesson was the first time he accidentally fired the replica muzzleloader into the wall of the classroom, the Billings Gazette reported Tuesday.

Haggard said he usually finishes the demonstration by firing a cap, which makes only a small popping sound, but "when I dropped the hammer on it, to all of our surprise, it went off."

The administrator said he dismissed the class after the students calmed down and immediately called the school board and the parents of the students to explain and apologize for the incident.

"None of them were upset with me," he said of the parents. He said one father laughed until he cried during their phone conversation.