PHILADELPHIA - The gun of an off-duty police officer accidentally went off as she spoke to her child's fourth-grade class, firing a bullet that grazed the cheek of a 10-year-old boy.

The boy, James Reeves, was treated and released from a hospital following Wednesday's incident.

Officer Vanessa Carter-Moragne, 39, was reassigned to desk duty pending an investigation. Police commissioner Sylvester Johnson declined to discuss disciplinary action but acknowledged the officer could lose her job.

Carter-Moragne's child was among the 23 fourth-graders in the class at the Imani Education Circle Charter School. Officials said she let the students see the gun and clip and let them pass the gun around.

Principal Francine Fulton said Carter-Moragne had just put the clip back in the gun when she dropped the weapon. It was unclear whether the gun fired when it hit the floor or when the officer retrieved it, police said yesterday.

Some students said Carter-Moragne dropped the gun before replacing the clip and that it fired while she was reloading it.

The charter school, which is run by a community board of directors, was cordoned off Wednesday afternoon and treated as a crime scene as parents arrived to pick up their children.

Tim Williams said he heard about a shooting on the news and rushed to the school to pick up his son Armani, a kindergartner.

"It's too close for comfort," he said.

Children from the same school were involved in an incident last week in which a substitute bus driver allegedly threatened unruly students, saying he had a weapon and ordering them to keep quiet. Police stopped the bus and found the 58-year-old driver with a 9 mm semiautomatic gun.

The driver, who had a permit for the weapon, was questioned by police but not charged.