Trail of blood found at a Kentucky school after custodian accidentally shot himself

A trail of blood found Wednesday leading from a staff break room at Stanford Elementary School to the parking lot was from a custodian who had accidentally shot himself, police said.

Law enforcement officials were dispatched to Stanford Elementary School Wednesday where school staff had discovered what appeared to be blood leading from a staff break room out to the parking lot, according to a news release from Lincoln County Schools.

Officers responded to meet with school officials and investigate the incident. The building was quickly searched and cleared as investigators were able to determine what had occurred. Stanford police said the custodian has resigned from their position, the investigation remains active and potential charges are pending.

The staff member had non-life-threatening injuries from the shooting which took place the night before, school district officials said.

“We appreciate the prompt response from (the Stanford Police Department) and (Kentucky State Police) this morning and quickly determining the campus safe for school,” Lincoln County School officials said in a news release.

At approximately 11 p.m. a staff member of Stanford Elementary, who was working second shift maintenance at the school, “had an accidental discharge of a firearm that resulted in accidental self injury.”

The staff member then exited the building and left the premises.

“No other person(s) are implicated in this incident as it appears at this point in the investigation that no other parties (staff, students, any other person) were on the school premises at the time of the incident,” the news release said.

“It was clear that the incident that occurred last night around 11:00 pm was over shortly after 11:00 pm and there was no active threat to the students or staff, “ the statement said. “Nobody, except for the individual involved, was aware of the situation until the staff entered the building this morning. As soon as it was discovered, Law Enforcement was notified.”

At no point were the students or staff of Stanford Elementary believed to be unsafe, police said. Officers were on scene prior to student arrival and the school was deemed safe for operations. Officers remained on campus throughout the day.

At this time, Stanford police are not releasing the identity of the individual involved.