Mother of six-year-old who shot Virginia teacher could face charges, say police

Police says boy brought mother’s legally purchased gun to school

The mother of a six-year-old boy who shot and critically injured his teacher at a Virginia elementary school could face charges, police said.

Newport News police chief Steve Drews told CNN on Tuesday that is “is certainly a possibility” that the mother of the boy could face charges in the shooting.

His comments come a day after police confirmed the boy used the firearm legally purchased by his mother and that the shooting was “intentional”.

On Friday, a six-year-old student drew a firearm when his teacher, identified as 25-year-old Abigail Zwerner, was teaching a lesson, and shot her in the chest at the Richneck Elementary School in Newport News city, Chief Drew said in a news conference.

After the boy pointed the gun at her, the teacher “took a defensive position” and raised her hands, Mr Drew said. The bullet passed through her hand and entered her chest, critically injuring the teacher, who remains hospitalised.

Mr Drew told the broadcaster they are working with several children organisations as they investigated the case.

“We need to check with Child Protective Services on any history. We need to check with the school system on any behavioural issues they might have and put those together,” he said.

“There’s still 16, 17 children that we want to work with a child psychologist to get some statement from.”

He added that the Commonwealth’s attorney will make the decision on forthcoming charges on parents once all the details and facts are compiled.

Police said the boy brought the gun to the school in his backpack and it was on his body when he shot the teacher. They said the gun was legally purchased by the child’s mother.

The teacher was hailed for her heroic efforts after she evacuated the children from her classroom despite being shot. Chief Drew said he watched the security footage of 17-20 children moving into the hallway and entering another classroom. The teacher was the last person to leave.

The boy was taken into police custody. Chief Drew said on Monday that he was under a temporary detention order and was taken to a hospital.

Before being held, the police said, the boy struck the employee trying to restrain him and showed combative behaviour.