The mother of a six-year-old who shot his teacher in the United States has been indicted by a grand jury on charges of child neglect and failing to properly secure a firearm in her home.
In a news release on Monday, Howard Gwynn — the Commonwealth’s attorney for Newport News, Virginia — stated his office would continue to explore the events and circumstances that led to the shooting.
“Every criminal case is unique in its facts, and these facts support these charges, but our investigation into the shooting continues,” said Gwynn.
The case is the latest involving a parent facing criminal charges after their child committed a school shooting. An appeals court in Michigan ruled last month that the parents of a teenager accused of killing four students at his high school could face trial for involuntary manslaughter.
The case in Virginia includes a felony charge of child neglect which could result in up to five years in prison. The second, firearm-related charge is a misdemeanour, punishable by a maximum of one year in prison.
The charges stem from the events of January 6, when a 6-year-old boy fired on a 25-year-old first-grade teacher named Abby Zwerner at Richneck Elementary School.
Newport News police chief Steve Drew has described the shooting as intentional. A single round from the firearm pierced Zwerner’s hand and chest.
After the shooting, the family of the six-year-old said that he has an “acute disability” that ordinarily required him to be accompanied to class by a parent under his care plan.
The week of the shooting, they said, was the first when a parent was not in class with him.
Police say that the boy’s mother purchased the firearm legally, and her lawyer James Ellenson has said the gun was kept on a shelf in her closet more than 1.8 metres (6 feet) above the ground, with a trigger lock that required a key.
The family has said that the boy was placed in hospital care following the shooting and that he is receiving “the treatment he needs”.
Zwerner, the teacher, filed a $40m lawsuit against the school administrators last week, alleging that they had failed to act on numerous warnings that the boy had a gun.
School officials have confirmed receiving such warnings but say they failed to find the firearm when searching the boy’s belongings.
Parents and teachers have also criticised administrators, saying that teachers’ concerns had been ignored and that students who acted violently faced few consequences.
In the lawsuit, Zwerner’s attorneys allege that school officials had received numerous warnings that the boy was armed and in a “violent mood” on the day of the shooting, but ignored those warnings.
The grand jury that charged the boy’s mother on Monday can still announce further indictments against other defendants as it continues its investigation.
“The safety and security of Newport News students are of utmost importance,” Gwynn, the Commonwealth’s attorney, said. “The Special Grand Jury will investigate to determine whether additional charges against additional persons are justified by the facts and the law.”
