The child’s family praised the teacher, Abe Zwirner
On the day a six-year-old boy shot and injured his school in the US state of Virginia, the school administration received three warnings that the child had a firearm, according to the lawyer for the wounded teacher.
Among the warnings was a request to search the student, and a report from another student who said a classmate had shown him a weapon.
Teacher Abigail Zwirner, 26, is recovering after leaving hospital last week.
The superintendent of the school lost his job as a result of the incident, after five out of six members of the governing body of Rechnik Elementary School voted to dismiss Superintendent George Parker.
Parker was relieved of his duties after Zubirner’s attorney, Diane Toscano, announced her intention to sue the county, saying the incident could have been entirely avoided.
The police did not announce the filing of an indictment.
The January 8 shooting, which was described as premeditated, shocked and raised questions about what would happen and who would be held responsible.
“On that day, within a few hours, the school administration received three warnings from teachers and administrators who were concerned about a child having a weapon and threatening others, but the administration did not care,” Toscano said.
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The accident occurred in one of the school classes
Tsukani says:
- At around twelve thirty, a school said that it had filed a report that it had searched the student’s bag because it believed that he had a weapon, and she did not find it, but she told an official that she believed that the student might have hidden the weapon in his pocket before he went out to the recess, and she reported that the official told her that the student’s pockets small.
- At about one o’clock, another school reported that the student revealed the weapon to his classmate and threatened to shoot him if he revealed the matter.
- Another employee asked to search the student and his bag, but told him to wait because the school day was coming to an end.
- At about two o’clock, the student pointed his gun at Zwener and fired in the middle of the class, the police said.
Newport News Police Inspector Steve Drew said Zwerner saved the students’ lives by asking them out after she was shot in the hand and chest.
Newport News Mayor Philip Jones thanked the outgoing superintendent and said he supports the board’s effort to appoint a good, dynamic administrator “to help heal the wounds and move forward after taking the appropriate measures to make our schools safer for everyone.”
The administrative supervisor’s salary was more than a quarter of a million dollars a year, according to local news sources, and he will continue to receive his full salary and other allowances until June 2024 because he was relieved of his duties “without a case.”
In addition to the general superintendent, the deputy principal of Retnik Elementary School will also lose his job.
Attorney Toscano’s claims are supported by letters exchanged between the school’s teachers, obtained by The Washington Post, stating that Zwirner’s school expressed concern about the student and asked for help.
The student’s family said last week that he suffers from a disability and that he rarely came to school without a family member accompanying him, but he was unaccompanied on the day of the accident.
The family praised the Zwerner school, saying it was a diligent teacher and kindly supported the family in order to obtain the best educational conditions for their child.
The police said that “the weapon used by the student was legally purchased by his mother.” The family of the child said that the weapon was secured, and the police did not comment on that.
Virginia law prohibits leaving ammunition in a gun or leaving it uninsured, which could pose a danger to a child under the age of 14.
