CNN
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The mother of a 6-year-old boy who authorities say shot his teacher at a Virginia elementary school could face charges, Newport News police Chief Steve Drew mentioned Tuesday.
“I think that is certainly a possibility,” Drew instructed “CNN This Morning,” a day after police confirmed the boy took the firearm from his residence and introduced it to highschool in his backpack Friday earlier than allegedly opening fireplace in a classroom at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, wounding a instructor and sending her to the hospital.
Drew has spoken with the commonwealth lawyer a number of occasions, he mentioned, however emphasised the investigation stays ongoing.
“We need to check with Child Protective Services on any history. We need to check with the school system on any behavioral issues they might have and put those together,” he mentioned. “There’s still 16, 17 children that we want to work with a child psychologist to get some statement from.”
“And at the end of the day, when that’s all compiled together and the facts and what the law supports, the Commonwealth’s attorney will make the decision if there are any charges forthcoming … towards the parents,” Drew mentioned.
Before police revealed the gun was legally bought by the 6-year-old’s mother, Andrew Block, an associate professor at the University of Virginia Law School, told CNN there was a state of affairs the place the dad and mom could be held criminally liable if the weapon belonged to them and they didn’t maintain it correctly locked up. But in Virginia, that’s solely a Class 1 misdemeanor, Block mentioned.
Without extra data, “it’s hard to know if there’s criminal liability or not, and who should have it,” mentioned Block, the previous director of the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice.
The boy was taken into police custody Friday, and Drew mentioned Monday he was beneath a short-term detention order and was being evaluated at a hospital.
Police obtained the decision that a instructor had been shot at 1:59 p.m. Friday, Drew mentioned. When officers entered the classroom the place the taking pictures occurred 5 minutes later, they noticed the boy was being bodily restrained by a college worker.
The 6-year-old was combative and struck the worker restraining him and officers took management, escorting him out of the constructing and into a police automotive, police mentioned.
The instructor was “providing class instruction when the child displayed a firearm, pointed it at her and fired one round,” Drew mentioned at Monday’s information convention. “There was no physical struggle or fight.”
The instructor – recognized as Abigail Zwerner – has been praised by metropolis officers for her response. Despite being shot within the chest by her hand, she made certain all her college students made it out of the classroom simply after the taking pictures, Drew mentioned. She was the final to go away her classroom, making her approach to the administration workplace.
“Abby was faithful as a teacher,” Newport News Mayor Phillip Jones mentioned. “She ensured that everyone was accounted for and that she was the last one to leave.”
Though her accidents had been earlier described as life-threatening, Zwerner has been in secure situation, authorities have mentioned.