A US teacher has sustained life-threatening injuries after she was shot by a six-year-old boy, local authorities confirmed.
Abby Zwerner, 25, was fired at by one of her pupils on Friday during what police in Virginia have described as an altercation.
Police chief Steve Drew said the boy shot and wounded the teacher with a handgun in a first-year classroom at Richneck Elementary School.
He was later taken into police custody. Drew said the shooting was not accidental and was part of an altercation. No pupils were injured.
Police have declined to describe what led to the altercation or any other details about what happened in the classroom, citing the ongoing investigation.
They have also declined to say how the boy got access to the gun or who owns the weapon.
Virginia law does not allow six-year-olds to be tried as adults. In addition, a six-year-old is too young to be committed to the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice if found guilty.
A juvenile judge would have authority, though, to revoke a parent’s custody and place a child under the purview of the Department of Social Services.
Zwerner was described by colleagues and officials as a hard-working educator who is devoted to her students and enthusiastic about the profession that runs in her family.
John Eley III, a former member of the Newport News School Board, and other city officials met teachers and the principal at the school on Friday and later went to the hospital, where they met with members of Zwerner’s family, including several aunts who also are teachers.
“The family was all educators and said she was excited about doing the job,” said Eley.
“The custodians and other teachers spoke about how she’s a good teammate, she’s a team player, she loves her children, she’s just an all-around good teacher.”
Mayor Phillip Jones would not say where the boy is being held.
“We are ensuring he has all the services that he currently needs right now,” Jones said Saturday.
Richneck has about 550 students in kindergarten through to fifth grade, according to the Virginia Department of Education’s website. School classes were cancelled on Monday and Tuesday.
