ZEBULON, N.C. — A middle school student who was showing off a handgun brought from home shot a friend in the leg aboard a school bus today, and the wounded boy is recovering, authorities said.

Lawrence Lavon Muzzon, the father of the boy who was suspected of bringing the gun on the bus, was arrested and charged in warrants with failing to store a firearm to protect a minor, authorities said.

An attorney for Muzzon, 53, could not be immediately located for comment.

Officials didn’t identify either student, but said they attended a middle school in Wake County and the shooting occurred early today on a highway in Zebulon, northeast of Raleigh.

A total of eight students were on the bus, officials said, but no one else was wounded.

Michael Evans, a spokesman for the Wake County school system, said the wounded student was grazed on the leg by a .22-caliber bullet and was in good condition at a hospital. He was expected to be released soon.

“It appears that there was a student who found a handgun at home and was bringing it to school in a book bag and took it out to show his friend and it discharged,” Evans said. The boy was later interviewed by investigators.

School officials sent an e-mail to parents in the school system, the second-largest in North Carolina, advising them of the shooting.