A 17-year-old was shot in the chest, allegedly by a 16-year-old girl, on Tuesday in a hallway at LeFlore High School during an altercation that Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood said “could have been a lot worse.”

“We’re very fortunate this isn’t a murder case,” Blackwood said during a news conference Wednesday at Government Plaza in downtown Mobile.

“This is very troubling. It’s a very troubling thing in our community to deal with. We’ll prosecute to the fullest extent. We won’t tolerate shootings in our schools of any kind.”

The shooting at 12:03 p.m. sparked chaos outside the school and led to the eventual arrest of a teenage girl who will be tried as an adult.

She faces charges that include two counts of assault 1st degree, possession of a deadly weapon on school grounds and discharging a firearm into a school building. She remains in Mobile Metro Jail on a combined $180,000 bond.

The girl, whose name is not being released, had her bond set earlier Wednesday.

Upon release, she is not to possess any firearms, will be under house arrest, and cannot have any contact with either of the victims, according to the conditions of her bond.

Blackwood said the girl was in possession of a .45-caliber handgun at the time of the altercation with a 15-year-old boy.

According to Mobile police, during the argument, the girl produced a handgun and shot the 15-year-old, causing a superficial wound. The bullet then struck the 17-year-old male student in the chest, and he was subsequently transported to the hospital for treatment of a non-life-threatening injury.

Blackwood said prosecutors are unaware on what the nature of the argument was that led to the shooting.

He also said he was uncertain if there was security at the school during the time of the shooting, or if students had to pass through a metal detector.

A news conference on the school’s security is set for 2 p.m. with Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch.

“We work with our partners to make sure these schools are safe,” Blackwood said. “They ordinarily do a good job at this. Unfortunately, in this case, we have a 16-year-old female who decided to make adult choices. She is being charged as an adult and we’ll treat her like an adult in the justice system.”

Mobile County Public Schools have not released any additional information. The school system’s Superintendent Chresal Threadgill, on Tuesday afternoon, issued a statement that said school officials are reviewing “all safety protocols and procedures” and will made adjustments as needed to prevent “something like this from happening again.”

The school board, in August, entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Mobile County Commission to spend $1.8 million that allowed Sheriff’s deputies to be employed full-time within the school system and assigned to one of its high schools. The deputies would be responsible with overseeing security within that school’s feeder system, according to the agreement.

The 12 armed deputies were to join the dozen unarmed student resource officers who have played a role within the school system’s security since 2007. The unarmed SROs were to remain within their schools, helping to develop relationships with students and assisting in security issues.

Blackwood said he was uncertain what the school’s policies will entail after the shooting, and whether that might include metal detectors. He said he has not spoken to school officials since the shooting took place.

“Safety of our children is important, but I’d be for whatever measure we need to take to keep kids safe in school,” he said, noting that his office has led efforts that have resulted in a decline in truancy within the Mobile County School System.

“We help families get their kids in school,” Blackwood said. “We want them to be safe in school and (Tuesday) was not a safe situation.”