NEWARK, N.J. (AP) U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg on Friday called for a Washington D.C. National Guard unit to halt all operations in New Jersey until it determines how and why an F-16 jet strafed an Ocean County school with 20mm cannon fire.
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.
The school will reopen Monday after workers repair the damage from the
2-inch-long lead bullets.The National Guard was still trying Friday to figure out how the single-seat jet on a nighttime training mission fired 25 rounds, many of which struck the Little Egg Harbor Intermediate School