Boy, 10, suspended from school for making a gun shape with his hand

The Ohio student was suspended from class for three days

The young boy from Ohio was suspended after making his hand into a gun shape (ITN)

A ten-year-old student has been suspended from school for pretending his finger was a gun and pointing it at a fellow student's head.

The child was suspended for three days from Devonshire Alternative Elementary School in Ohio.

Columbus schools have disciplined students for violations including firing a Nerf foam-dart gun at school since zero-tolerance policies were adopted following school shootings around the United States.

A similar policy was cited last year when a Maryland school suspended a seven-year-old boy who had eaten around a Pop-Tart to make a gun shape.

School district spokesman Jeff Warner told The Columbus Dispatch that Devonshire Principal Patricia Price had warned students about pretend gun play numerous times this year. He said warnings have also been included in three newsletters sent home with pupils. 

Mr Warner said the boy put his finger to the side of the other student's head and pretended to shoot "kind of execution style." 

"The kids were told: 'If you don't stop doing this type of stuff, there would be consequences,"' Mr Warner said. "It's just been escalating."

The child's father Paul Entingh said his son was just playing, and said the other student did not see the gesture.

He added: “It would even make more sense maybe if he brought a plastic gun that looked like a real gun or something, but it was his finger."

Additional reporting by The Associated Press