Arlington girls stuck by used and discarded needle at school

ARLINGTON, Mass. — Two young girls were stuck by a used and discarded syringe while playing outside a school on Tuesday, police said.

The girls, ages 5 and 7, were playing outside during an after-school program when, the girls told police, one of them picked up a syringe and was stuck in the hand by the needle. A second girl removed the needle from the first girl’s hand, and she was stuck as well, police said in a statement.

Arlington officers responded to the Foster Street side of the Gibbs Middle School at 4 p.m. Tuesday for a medical call.

Police officers treated the girls until firefighters and paramedics arrived.

The syringe was placed in a sharps container, and the girls were sent by ambulance to Winchester Hospital for tests and treatment. Medical officials will conduct tests on the syringe to determine any further care that the girls may need.

Neighbors like Rose Burke who has lived here for decades say this is truly upsetting.

"It’s scary. It’s scary that these poor kids who are going to school and coming home, they’re finding all these needles and everything," Burke said. "Like I said, I always thought this was a safe place but you’ve got people from all over from Cambridge, Somerville, they come in. you don’t know who it could be, it’s a very sad situation."

Town and school officials planned to meet on Wednesday morning to "determine an appropriate response and plan of action," police said.

Now, staff are searching school grounds for other needles that may have been discarded.

“It is extremely concerning that a hypodermic needle would be so carelessly disposed of on the ground of a school, where children constantly gather, walk and play,” Superintendent of Schools Kathleen Bodie said in a statement. “We are instructing facilities staff at all of our buildings to conduct extensive and scheduled searches of the grounds and perimeters to ensure that if anything else is out there, that it is immediately and safely disposed of.”