Parents of Virginia boy, 6, who shot his teacher could face charges if cops find gun was not secured

The parents of a six-year-old boy who allegedly took a gun from home, put it in his backpack and shot his teacher could face charges for failing to properly secure the gun, as a substitute teacher reveals the victim had been struggling with some students.

The first grader is accused of shooting 25-year-old Abby Zwerner just as the Richneck Elementary School teacher ‘tried to confiscate’ the deadly firearm leaving her with serious injuries, according to the Washington Post.

in a school update About the incident, the 25-year-old is said to be in a “stable condition and is speaking with family and friends.”

The substitute teacher, called Celeste on TikTokwho replaced Zwerner said he knew the boy who shot him.

“I substituted for his class this year, I taught his class, I taught the 6-year-old girl who shot him,” he said on his TikTok, twitch_cyberhex.

In a follow-up, the TikToker said she “knew [Zwerner] he was fighting with some of the kids there.

Commenters on TikToks were sympathetic to both the substitute teacher and the parent.

‘So scared and I’m so glad you’re all safe!’ said one commenter.

“Hugs to you, prayers to Abby,” wrote another.

“You have done all you can, I promise you it is a heartbreaking reality that these events still happen when they can be prevented, take care,” said another.

In an attempt to ‘give students and families time to heal’, the school has been closed and will reopen next week.

On Monday, Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew said in a news conference posted on Facebook that the boy had found the gun at his home and put it in his backpack to take to school.

Because the gun, which was legally purchased by the boy’s mother, was taken from the home of the parents, who have not been identified, could face criminal liability for the act.

Under state laws weapons must be protected from children under the age of 14 in accordance with a description of the penalty for allowing children access to firearms in the Virginia Legislative Information System.

“It shall be unlawful for any person to recklessly leave a loaded and unsecured firearm in such a manner as to endanger the life or limb of any child under the age of fourteen,” it says.

‘Any person who violates the provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.’

The sanction also makes it illegal for any person to knowingly authorize a child under the age of 12 to use a firearm, except when the child is under adult supervision.

“Anyone who violates this subsection shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor,” it says.

‘For the purposes of this subsection, ‘adult’ shall mean a parent, guardian, person acting in place of the child’s parents, or a person twenty-one years of age or older who has the permission of the parent, guardian, or person standing in place of parents to supervise the child in the use of a firearm.’

The grandmother of one of the students told DailyMail that a student brought “shiny gold bullets” to school last week, but it is unclear if this is the same boy who was detained.

She said: ‘Parents outside said their son told them a boy brought shiny gold bullets to school and was thinking of bringing his gun. The student told the parent, who informed the school.

“And yesterday the school responded to the parent saying the child’s parent said it was a nerf bullet and the parent said nerf bullets aren’t shiny and gold.”

She wasn’t sure if the boy who brought the ‘bullets’ is the same boy allegedly involved in the shooting.

Meanwhile, third-grader Kautier Brown, 10, who heard the outbreak of chaos inside his school last week, said Curly that ‘school is not a battlefield’ in a message to Newport News Public Schools and the country.

“They better be fixed by Friday because if they’re not fixed by Friday then I’m not going to school next week,” she said.

‘School is not, school is for learning, having fun and making friends. School is not a battlefield,’ she said.

Drew did not rule out the possibility of charges against the parents, but said it was too soon to tell as the department is still investigating.

“You can’t criminally charge a six-year-old, that’s pretty well established,” said Virginia criminal defense attorney Steve Duckett. New York Post.

“The test should come down to whether or not adequate steps were taken to safeguard the weapon,” Duckett said.

‘if they kept [the gun] out in the open, where anyone could grab it and do something bad with it, that potentially exposes them to some liability.’

Duckett said the parents could not be criminally charged “if it was locked in a safe and they were not remiss in keeping the keys or the safe code where anyone could find it and the child broke in without their knowledge.”

According to a report from WTVR CBS 6 Legal analyst Todd Stone said the case is unusual given the age of the accused shooter.

‘It’s really shocking. You just don’t see this happen in the legal system where you have someone that young intentionally use a firearm against another person,” Stone said.

Parents could be charged with a misdemeanor, which would be the maximum of 12 months in jail and realistically depends a lot on the facts.

Parents could face charges such as delinquency or child neglect, charges “that can sometimes be more difficult to prove,” Stone added.

Investigator David Riedman, who founded a database tracking US school shootings, said he was only aware of three other school shootings involving 6-year-olds and one involving a 5-year-old. , according to a report from guardian.

“It’s very rare and it’s not something the legal system is really designed or positioned to handle,” Riedman said.

Zwerner was shot in the chest in his classroom at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, around 2 p.m. on Friday, January 6.

She was rushed to the hospital for surgery, but is now stable.

Police said the boy, who has not been publicly identified, got into an “alteration” with Zwerner, of Williamsburg, before shooting him.

The father, Sebastián González-Hernández, confirmed Zwerner’s identity to DailyMail over the weekend and also detailed his disinterest immediately afterward.

He said he ‘yelled at his children to run away’ after the student fired a single bullet.

“Even after he was shot, he was thinking about the safety of his children,” González-Hernández said.

Officials on the scene recovered a 9mm handgun and casing, Drew said, but have not yet identified the boy or the parents.