>
A first-grade teacher who police say was deliberately shot in the chest by a six-year-old boy is a 25-year-old hero who yelled at her students to run to safety.
Abby Zwerner is the educator who was struck by the bullet in her classroom at Richneck Elemtary School in Newport News, Virginia, around 2pm on Friday, DailyMail.com has revealed.
She was then rushed to the hospital for surgery. Authorities said tonight that Zwerner was seriously ill and no further updates have been shared.
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.com and also detailed his disinterest immediately afterwards.
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.
Abby Zwerner, 25, of Williamsburg, Virginia, was shot in the chest at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News around 2 p.m. Friday.
The father, Sebastián González-Hernández, who confirmed Zwerner’s identity to DailyMail.com, said he “shouted at his children to run away” after the student fired a single bullet.
Her own six-year-old son, whom she did not want to name, was in the classroom when the shot rang out.
“My son didn’t see what happened, he heard the shot and turned around to see Miss Zwerner on the ground,” he told DailyMail.com on Friday.
‘She is an amazing teacher, very dedicated. My son absolutely loves her, and we are devastated by what happened. We all think of her and hope she gets better soon.”
Zwerner was taken to Riverside Regional Medical Center in critical condition and remains there. She was the only one injured.
Police confirmed that a six-year-old student fired the terrifying shot, but authorities are still investigating how the first grader managed to obtain a gun.
“This was not an accidental shooting,” Newport News chief Steve Drew said at a news conference Friday. ‘It was in a classroom, there was an altercation. We didn’t have a situation where someone was hanging around the school shooting. We had a situation at a particular location where a firearm was discharged.
The grandmother of one of the students told DailyMail.com that a student brought “shiny gold bullets” to school last week, but it is unclear if this is the same boy who was detained today.
González-Hernández said the 25-year-old is an ‘incredible teacher, very dedicated’
Zwerner was taken to Riverside Regional Medical Center in critical condition and remains there. she was the only one hurt
The shooting occurred in a classroom and was an isolated incident. Officers are still trying to determine how the student managed to obtain the weapon.
The school (pictured) would be closed on Monday to work on the ‘mental health of our staff and students’
The grandmother, who asked not to be named, said the boy allegedly “brought bullets to school last week and said he would bring his gun.”
“A parent told the school they did nothing, now look,” he wrote on Facebook.
Speaking to DailyMail.com, he 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 boy’s father 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 today’s shooting.
However, the school does have the ability to metal detect students, Superintendent George Parker said at the news conference. They don’t test every student, every day, but they said every school in the district has the capacity to do it.
“When we sense a threat or problem, we do random metal detection on those days,” Parker said Friday.
It’s unclear if the school improved testing after the bullet claim the previous week.
“Today, our students got a lesson on gun violence,” Parker said. ‘We need to keep guns out of the reach of our youth.’
A British parent of one of the students, currently residing in the US because her husband is in the military, is now demanding that the city do something about the gun problem.
“Guns, that’s the biggest problem in this country,” he said. WTKR. ‘Why is there a seven year old with a bloody gun? … How does a seven-year-old have a gun?
‘I’m only here because my husband is in the army. Otherwise, he would not have chosen to come to this country.’
Chief Scott Drew said there was an altercation between the student and the teacher before the shooting.
Carlos Glover, nine, (pictured) was seen leaving school with his mother Joselin after the shooting. A student has been arrested, but the police have not released the student’s name.
A crowd of parents waited outside Richneck Elementary School after the 2 pm shooting where a six-year-old boy allegedly shot his teacher on purpose after an “altercation.”
Parker said the school would be closed Monday to work on the “mental health of our staff and students.”
Police say the incident is no longer an active situation and that it was an isolated incident.
A six-year-old student told the Daily Press the shooter was a classmate.
The six-year-old girl who witnessed the shooting said her classmate shot the teacher ‘on purpose’ and the teacher fell to her knees.
The mother of a fourth-grader said she received a text from the school saying the shooting occurred and the suspect was in custody.
‘My heart stopped. She was crazy, very nervous. I was just wondering if that person was my son,” Joselin Glover, whose son is Carlos Glover, told the Daily Press.
Despite her concern, she said the school handled the situation well.
Mayor Phillip Jones agreed, saying: ‘The police did an amazing job, they were here very, very quickly along with the Sheriff’s Office. We make sure everyone is safe, we make sure everyone is accounted for.”
The Uvalde Children’s Foundation also commented on the devastating incident, saying in a statement: “Today’s incident highlights, once again, the need to prioritize in this nation the protection of our schools, our students and the communities that care for them.” .
‘Once again, in another school in this nation; students face fear, instead of joy; lessons of violence – instead of peace. UNTIL those lessons change, our work continues.”