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A 6 year old boy shot a teacher during an altercation at an elementary school in Virginia on Friday, police said.
No students were injured in the shooting at Richneck Elementary School, police said. Newport News it’s a statement.
“This was not an accidental shooting,” said Newsport News Police Chief Steve Drew journalists during a press conference.
Chief Drew said that the teacher, a woman in her 30s, suffered what she described as a life-threatening gunshot wound and was taken to a hospital.
The boy was taken into custody, Drew said, also reporting that no one else was involved in the incident.
“We have been in contact with our attorney and a few other entities to help us better serve this young man,” said Drew, who reported that a gun was used in the altercation and that he wanted to know where it came from.
“This was not a situation where we had a student, or anyone else, running up and down the halls actively shooting in a lengthy shooting incident,” Drew said.
Schools Superintendent George Parker III said the incident occurred in a first-grade classroom. “Today our students got a lesson on gun violence,” Parker said.
“This is terrible,” he added. “This is something that should never happen, and I think we’re all shocked and we all understand that we have a lot of work to do as a community to make sure things like this don’t happen.”
Metal detectors are used randomly throughout the school district, Parker said. The school suspended classes on Monday.
Curtis Bethany, a city councilman, said Newport News was dealing with “uncharted” territory. “I’ve never heard of a 6-year-old going to school with a loaded gun.”
School shootings involving such a young shooter are exceptionally rare.
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