A teacher in the United States who was seriously injured when he was shot by a 6-year-old elementary school student is showing signs of improvement, authorities say.
This woman in her 30s is Shot by boy in class During an altercation on Friday, it was no accident, according to police.
Philip Jones, the mayor of Newport News, Virginia, where the incident took place, said it was a “national red flag.”
The Richneck Elementary school teacher remains in hospital and her condition is “moving in a positive direction”, he said.
Police initially described the teacher’s injuries as “life-threatening”, but said a senior police officer met her on Saturday and “she has improved and is in a stable condition”.
Mr. Jones added that officials were trying to understand how such a young child could be involved in the school shooting.
Boy shoots teacher in first grade classroom No students were injured.
Students and police gather outside school after shooting
Mr Jones declined to give further details of the circumstances leading up to the altercation, citing an ongoing police investigation.
He also would not comment on how the boy got his hands on the gun or who the weapon belonged to.
“I do think that after this incident there will be a national discussion about how to prevent things like this from happening,” Mr Jones said.
“I’m in awe, I’m shocked, I’m devastated,” said Newport News Public Schools superintendent George Parker III.
Boy was too young to stand trial
Richneck will not be in class on Monday, school officials said.
Virginia law does not allow six-year-olds to be tried as adults.
Additionally, a six-year-old is too young to be placed in the custody of the Juvenile Justice Department if convicted.
However, juvenile judges will have the power to revoke parental custody and place the child under the jurisdiction of the Department of Social Services.
Mr Jones would not reveal where the boy was being held, but added: “We are making sure he has all the services he needs at this time.”
gun violence in america
Experts who study gun violence say the shooting represents an extremely rare instance of a young child bringing a gun into a school and injuring a teacher.
“That’s not something the legal system is really designed or prepared to deal with,” said David Riedman, a researcher who created a database of US school shootings going back to 1970.
He said he was only aware of three other shootings involving 6-year-old students during the time period he studied; the shooting of a classmate in Michigan in 2000, Texas in 2011 and Mississippi in 2021 Other students were injured in the state shooting.
Mr. Riedman said he was only aware of one other school shooting involving students younger than him, including a five-year-old who brought a gun to a Tennessee school in 2013 and accidentally opened fire.
No one was injured in that case.