Virginia teacher, 25, who was shot by six-year-old boy is AWAKE and talking with her family

The Virginia teacher who was shot by her six-year-old student in her classroom is awake and talking to family, days after the life-threatening attack.

Abby Zwerner, 25, was shot Friday while working at Richneck Elementary School in what police confirmed was “not an accidental shooting.

” They have yet to release any further information about the child involved.

Meanwhile, a grandfather of a student at the school claimed that the week before the attack, a boy brought “bright gold bullets” and told his class and teacher that he was thinking of bringing a gun.

It is unclear if the student described by the grandfather is the same one who shot Zwerner in the abdomen at point blank range.

Zwerner was shot in the abdomen at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News around 2 p.m. Friday.

Speaking to DailyMail.com, the grandmother 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.”

Zwerner was reportedly trying to confiscate the little girl’s gun when he shot her. Police said they were working to determine how the boy got the gun and why she shot her teacher.

Richneck will remain closed through Friday of this week as the school and community continue to consider ways to help students through this crisis.

A parent, Mark Anthony Garcia, whose young son attends Richneck, told CNN that the entire incident is a failure of the educational device’s security system.

He said local parents have raised previous concerns to no avail.

‘We’ve talked to the principal, we’ve talked to the school counselor, we’ve been to town hall meetings, we’ve zoomed, what else are we supposed to do?’ he said.

As a veteran, Garcia said what happened at the school was the failure of multiple security measures, including metal detectors, of which he says the school has only one in the library.

Garcia’s son, Mark Jr., told CNN that right after the shooting, which he heard from his nearby classroom, “we all went quiet.

“

“Two people were crying,” he said.

A key question, Mark Sr. said, is understanding if there were any problems in the classroom in the past.

Dr. James Fedderman, president of the Virginia Education Association, said the problem will only get worse if students’ mental health needs aren’t met soon.

“We’re going to see an increase in crime in our schools and we really need to take charge and do something about it,” he said, adding that schools currently lack the capacity to address the “socio-emotional needs of our students.”

Richneck Elementary will remain closed this week as administrative leaders continue to think about how to get students through the trauma experienced Friday.

Lawonda Sample-Rusk told a local outlet how she responded to the shooting of 25-year-old teacher Abby Zwerner.

Lawonda Sample-Rusk, a grandmother who was at school early Friday to pick up her two grandchildren, helped render aid to the injured Zwerner.

Rusk told a local news outlet WKTR that he heard Zwerner yell ‘They’re shooting at me, they’re shooting at me’. He calls 911.’

At first, she and the school receptionist thought that Rusk had just been injured in her hand, but then he “passed out on the floor”.

Rusk and the receptionist stayed with Zwerner and helped put pressure on the wound while other administrators led the young students to designated safe areas.

The terrifying incident on Friday led Rusk to the area’s second annual Stop the Violence rally.

Concerned residents, community activists and city leaders came together to share concerns about the safety of the community in the aftermath of the shooting.

So far, police have declined to comment on what, if any, contact they have had with Zwerner.