Police have taken a six-year-old boy into custody after they say he shot a teacher in the US state of Virginia. Chief Steve Drew said that the shooting took place at Richneck Elementary School in the city of Newport News just after 14:00 local time (19:00 GMT).
It’s not clear how the child got the gun, but Mr. Drew said it wasn’t a “random shooting.” The teacher, who hasn’t been named but is thought to be in her 30s, was hurt so badly that she could die.
She was taken to a nearby hospital, where doctors are keeping a close eye on her. After the two got into a fight, the incident happened in a first-grade (ages 6-7) classroom.
But Mr. Drew stressed that the shooting was an isolated event and that police “did not have a situation where someone was going around the school shooting.”
6 year old shoots teacher apparently on purpose. So if we are supposed to arm teachers to solve the problem, are teachers supposed to be prepared to shoot 6 year olds to defend themselves? What are we doing
— Kate Shelor (@KateShelor) January 6, 2023
Officials said that the school, which has about 550 students, had metal detectors, but not every child was checked. Police wouldn’t say what kind of weapon the boy used, but they did say it was a handgun.
School District Head Dr George Parker said officials would “be looking at any instance that may have occurred that may have caused this incident”.
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“This is terrible, something like this should never occur,” Dr Parker added. “We want to ensure nothing like this happens again.” He said that the school would be closed on Monday and promised that students and parents would get help to deal with what had happened.
Mayor Phillip Jones, who had just been elected three days before the shooting, said it was “a dark day for Newport News.” “We’re going to learn from this and we’re going to come back stronger,” he told reporters.
So a 6 year old shoots his teacher in Virginia in an altercation…
Can we have fucking gun control now??
JFC
— LeeSinglife (@harmsinglitz) January 7, 2023
Glenn Youngkin, the governor of Virginia, said that he had offered help to local officials and that his government was “ready to help in any way we can.”
“I am continuing to monitor the situation and am praying for the continued safety of all students and the community,” he wrote on Twitter.
About 70 miles (112 km) to the south of the state capital Richmond is the city of Newport News, home to approximately 180,000 people… Follow us only on Lee Daily for more news like this.
