UNITED STATES. Virginia: A 6-year-old first grader shot a teacher during an altercation in a classroom on Friday afternoon at Richneck elementary school in Newport News, Virginia, leaving the teacher with “life-threatening” wounds and prompting calls for increased gun control.
George Parker, the public school’s superintendent, condemned the attack at a press conference, calling it “disheartening” and “shocking.”
The injured first-grade teacher has been named Abby Zwerner, according to several anonymous sources cited in a broadcast on Saturday by the regional television news station WTKR.
On Saturday, Parker stated that the incident demonstrated the necessity for “educating our children and ensuring their safety.”
“We need the community’s support, continued support, to make sure that guns are not available to youth, and I’m sounding like a broken record today because I continue to reiterate that: that we need to keep guns out of the hands of our young people,” he added.
“I cannot control access to weapons. My teachers cannot control access to weapons… Our students got a lesson in gun violence and what guns can do to disrupt not only an educational environment but also a family and a community,” he continued.
As per Parker, Virginia’s Richneck Elementary will be closed until at least Monday as it deals with “the mental health of our staff and our students.”
The Newport News police chief, Steve Drew, informed reporters that the teacher, identified as Zwerner, had been shot in a classroom and had made “some improvement” as of Friday afternoon.
The six-year-old boy who is accused of shooting his teacher was detained by police.
Drew, who described the shooting as “not… an accidental shot,” added, “We have been in communication with [local prosecutors] and some other institutions to help us best get services to this kid.”
The Virginia incident did not result in any additional injuries, and after the campus was pronounced safe once more, students were given back to their parents.
Police reported that it was unclear at the time how the young suspect got his hands on the weapon.
Six-year-olds cannot be tried as adults under Virginia law, according to the Associated Press.
In addition, it is believed that they are too young to be held in the care of the juvenile court system if they are found guilty of any criminal accusations brought against them.
A juvenile judge, however, has the authority to withdraw parental custody of such a kid and transfer custody to the state social services organisation.
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