A first grade teacher was shot by a six-year-old student when she tried to pull his gun. The boy pulled the trigger when the teacher jumped on him with the intention of snatching the revolver from him. The dramatic event took place in a school in Virginia, in the United States.
“He was about to reach for his gun and that’s when he fired,” Brittaney Gregory, whose son was in the class, told the Washington Post. Apparently, the teacher had an argument with the student, who pulled a gun from under her clothes and fired. Now the investigation focuses on the fact that there have been previous problems between the educator and the child.
Abby Zwerner, 25, was killed around 2 p.m. Friday at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia. His condition is serious but stable. at Riverside Regional Medical Center, the paper reported.
The teacher was praised as a hero for warning the other children to run when the shooting broke out.
The 6-year-old boy was taken into custody following the shocking incident, which Police Chief Steve Drew said was the result of a fight and “was not an accidental shooting”. It’s unclear what sparked the brawl or how the boy got hold of the gun.
Gregory said that when the teacher told the kids to run, they fled to another teacher’s classroom and remained locked up.
The mother described Zwerner as her son’s favorite teacher, who left notes in his backpack.
“Hope you had a nice day,” Gregory said the teacher wrote about one of them. “I want you to know that your smile is contagious,” read another, according to the father.
What no one can figure out is how a 6 year old can access a gun and take it to school without anyone finding out. And I go over, how the hell does he know how to handle it! That’s exactly what the investigators are trying to find out now, who had to ask for the help of lawyers, psychologists and experts to question such a young suspect.
The police are paying particular attention when it comes to revealing details about what happened, given the young age of the attacker. The only thing that transpired was that it wasn’t an “accident,” police chief Steve Drew explained.
Andrew Block, associate professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, he said the shooter is unlikely to be prosecuted although there is no minimum age to be charged with a crime in Virginia.
“In practice, it would be nearly impossible to prosecute a 6-year-old, no matter how serious,” a former director of the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice told the Washington Post Block.
He cited the “defense of childhood” that children under the age of 7 do not have the ability or mental state to form intent to commit a crime.
“The biggest hurdle, assuming the prosecution can overcome it, is that all defendants have to be competent to stand trial,” Block told the aforementioned outlet.
“This means you must understand the nature of the legal proceedings against you and cooperate in your defense. There is no way a 6-year-old would meet these criteria.” added.
But Block noted that an adult could be charged with a misdemeanor if the gun came from a home where the child lives, because under state law, Weapons must be kept safely by children under the age of 14.
Source: Clarin
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.