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Halfway through class, there was a bang. A six-year-old pointed the gun at his schoolteacher Abigail Z.*, 25, and pulled the trigger. The student caused life-threatening injuries to the young woman. The tragedy, which police say was not an accident, happened in January this year at an elementary school in the town of Newport News, Virginia.
In an interview with the American television channel NBC News, the teacher now speaks about the crime for the first time. After several surgeries, she still faces “obstacles and challenges,” said Z. . “There are days when I can’t get out of bed,” says the teacher.
The shot could have killed her
She still remembers the expression on the student’s face just before he pulled the trigger. According to doctors, she was lucky, because the shot could have killed her. “The shot went through my left hand and broke the middle bone as well as the index finger and thumb. Then it went into my chest,” the teacher said in an interview. The fact that the shot went through her hand first would have saved her life. The doctors cannot say at this time if her hand will ever be fully functional again.
Although it is slowly but surely going uphill, she is still physically and mentally exhausted. Nevertheless, “The physical scars are healing.” The wound on the side of her body, where doctors had to place a chest tube after her lung collapsed, is also healing.
Despite the terrible incident, Z. has not lost heart: “I try to stay positive.” Yet she still follows the act every day. In addition, she is regularly plagued by nightmares. “I’m not sure the shock will ever go away. I think about it every day.”
Now the teacher wants to sue the school
Because the school management had failed to do so on a number of points, Z. now wants to sue those responsible. Z’s lawyer is convinced that the tragedy could have been prevented: “I can tell you that there have been omissions in several areas in this case.”
Z. and several of her colleagues alerted the Richneck Elementary School Board of Supervisors three times in the Newport News that the six-year-old may be threatening others and may be carrying a gun, the attorney said. On the morning of the crime itself, the teacher involved even informed school authorities that the six-year-old student had threatened to beat up another child. The authorities didn’t seem to care.
An hour later, the supervisory authority was informed by another teacher that the boy in question had apparently brought a firearm to school. However, she could not find the gun in the boy’s school bag. Finally, a third teacher reported that a student, crying, reported seeing the gun and being threatened with it.
However, according to Z.’s lawyer, no action was taken. “Tragically, Richneck Elementary School was hit by violence an hour later,” the attorney said. (dzc/AFP)
* Name known
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
