6-Year-Old Accused of Shooting Teacher in Virginia Has ‘Acute Disability,’ Family Says

The 6-year-old boy who’s accused of bringing a gun to high school and taking pictures his instructor in Newport Information, Va., this month has an “acute incapacity” and had been beneath an intensive care plan in school, his household mentioned on Thursday in its first assertion because the taking pictures on Jan. 6.

The assertion, launched by means of the household’s lawyer, mentioned that the boy had beforehand been accompanied in class every day by his mom or father as a part of the plan for his incapacity, and that the week of the taking pictures was the primary time {that a} guardian was not at school with him.

“We are going to remorse our absence on this present day for the remainder of our lives,” the household mentioned in an announcement.

The assertion additionally mentioned that the gun, which the authorities mentioned the boy introduced from dwelling, had been “secured,” however didn’t clarify how the boy had gotten entry to it.

The police declined to remark. Nobody has been charged within the case to date, a spokeswoman for the Newport Information Police Division mentioned on Thursday. The Newport Information faculty district declined to remark, citing scholar privateness.

The brand new particulars add context to a painful case during which the police say the 6-year-old obtained a handgun at dwelling, introduced it to Richneck Elementary College and pulled the set off in his first-grade classroom, significantly injuring his instructor, Abigail Zwerner, 25. She has been launched from the hospital.

The kid’s historical past additionally raises questions concerning the faculty’s response on the day of the taking pictures, when district officers say that an worker at Richneck Elementary, performing on a tip, searched the boy’s backpack for a gun. No weapon was discovered at the moment, the varsity district mentioned. Later, round 2 p.m., the police mentioned, the boy held up a handgun in his first-grade classroom and fired one shot at his instructor.

The case, uncommon due to the kid’s younger age, spurred new dialog round faculty safety and entry to weapons, in an period of accelerating faculty shootings. Richneck Elementary has been closed because the taking pictures, and the varsity district introduced it will set up steel detectors in all faculty buildings, together with elementary faculties.

Within the assertion, the household mentioned it had been dedicated to “accountable gun possession and preserving firearms out of the attain of kids.”

The police have mentioned that the handgun was legally bought by the kid’s mom. Virginia regulation prohibits leaving a loaded gun the place it’s accessible to kids beneath 14, a criminal offense that’s punishable as a misdemeanor.

“Our coronary heart goes out to our son’s instructor and we pray for her therapeutic,” the boy’s household mentioned within the assertion, including that Ms. Zwerner had “labored diligently and compassionately to assist our household as we sought the very best schooling and studying setting for our son.”

The boy has additionally been “beneath hospital care and receiving the therapy he wants,” his household mentioned.

“We proceed to wish for his instructor’s full restoration, and for her family members who’re undoubtedly upset and anxious,” the household mentioned. “On the identical time, we love our son and are asking that you just please embody him and our household in your prayers.”

Paul Bibeau contributed reporting.