A six-year-old student shot his teacher at his Virginia elementary school, critically injuring her. The Newport News police reported this on Twitter on Friday (local time). The first grade class at Richneck Elementary School in the City of Newport News is in police custody. No students were injured in Friday afternoon’s incident. Parents and students were reunited in the school’s sports hall. The investigations continued.
The incident was sparked by a class dispute, the New York Times reported, citing authorities. The boy shot the woman, who was between 30 and 40, with a handgun, Steve Drew, chief of the Newport News Police Department, said at a news conference.
The shot was not fired accidentally. The woman’s injuries have been classified as life-threatening, but “there has been some improvement since the last update we received,” Drew said, according to CNN. Now it is necessary to find out where the firearm came from and what the situation was like.
Not a first time
Photos and videos taken after the crime show frightened and confused children, and dozens of police officers were on patrol. Newport News chief of public schools George Parker said he was in shock. “We must educate our children and ensure their safety.” Guns should not be in the hands of young people. The school will remain closed on Monday. Newport News has a population of approximately 180,000 making it the fifth largest city in the state. It is known for its shipyard.
School incidents involving such young shooters are also rare in the United States. Since 1970, there have been 16 cases involving shooters under the age of ten, according to the New York Times. Three of these involved six-year-olds and two of these three incidents were recorded as an accident. The Newport News incident highlights the ongoing threat of gun violence in schools across the United States. In May, 19 children and two teachers were killed in a shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. (SDA)