US: A Virginia teacher, 25, was hailed as a hero by police on Monday for removing pupils from her classroom despite being shot by a 6-year-old pupil.
Following the shooting at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, on Friday afternoon, police chief Steve Drew stated at a press conference that teacher Abigail Zwerner was in a stable condition on Monday.
According to Drew, a court had until Tuesday to decide whether to renew a temporary order holding the 6-year-old boy in custody. In the meantime, the boy was temporarily in care at a medical institution.
He said it was too early to say if the boy’s parents may face criminal charges for failing to safeguard the weapon, which the boy’s mother had lawfully purchased.
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“A hero,” the police chief referred to Zwerner.
“She made sure that every one of those kids were out of that room, that she was the last one to leave. And she took it upon herself in that situation, after suffering a gunshot wound, to make sure that her students … were safe,” explained Drew.
According to Drew, the youngster had stolen the 9 mm Taurus handgun from his house, put it in his backpack, and taken it out while Zwerner was in the middle of teaching the lesson. He made one shot while pointing. Zwerner was shot in the hand and into the chest as he assumed a protective stance.
After the shooting, a second school employee raced in to hold the boy down while Zwerner led the estimated 16 to 20 students out of the room, according to Drew. The gun was on the floor when cops arrived.
“I wish that we never had to have it asked. How does a 6-year-old know how to use a firearm? I don’t know that I could give you an adequate answer,” said Drew.
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Teachers vowed to review security procedures while police and prosecutors continued their probe.
George Parker, the superintendent of Newport News Public Schools, informed reporters that this was just the third instance since 1970 in which a child 6 years old or less had fired a gun at a school in the United States, adding that the institution was unprepared for the event.
The deployment of metal detectors in high schools and active-shooter drills at all levels were the main security measures up until recently.
Parker stated, “I hate to be at this point where I’m where I’m considering this …. It may warrant us to reconsider metal detectors at all of our buildings.”
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