Condition Improving for Virginia Teacher Shot by Six-Year-Old Child

A Virginia teacher was critically injured after being shot by her six-year-old student, but her current condition is showing signs of improvement, authorities declare.

Abby Zwerner, a 30-year-old teacher at Richneck Elementary School, Newport News, suffered severe injuries after being shot with a handgun Friday by one of the students, only six years old.

Mayor Phillip Jones informed BBC News that the teacher's recovery was going in a "positive direction," yet she remains in critical condition.

Still investigating how the kid obtained the gun

According to Mayor Jones, who just took office days before the incident, the authorities continually investigated the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

"This is a dark day in our history, and I think this is a red flag for the country. We don't have all the answers about how a six-year-old was able to handle a firearm or how a six-year-old was able to access a firearm," the mayor expressed, though he also said that the "word altercation was a valid one and one that I would use."

It remains unclear how the six-year-old child obtained the gun. Officials said that the school has metal detection facilities. However, with around 550 students, not every child can be inspected, and only random checking was done.

Authorities have declared that the child was already in their custody. Yet, they continued to decline to answer what could have been the motivation behind the incident. Chief Steve Drew informed reporters that it did not seem accidental as the shooting happened after an "altercation" occurred in the first-grade classroom, consisting of kids ages six to seven.

According to ABC Mundial, Steve Gonzalez, a parent of a student who was in the classroom during the shooting incident, told Fox News that Zwerner responded selflessly even after she had been shot, screaming and instructing the kids to "run away."

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Cry for stricter gun laws

Richneck Elementary School is closed today and Tuesday in response to the latest shooting to give authorities time to investigate and school staff and students to process the aftershock and the trauma.

Briana Foster Newton, the school's principal, issued a statement expressing how her heart aches for the school community as Friday's tragic event impacts everyone profoundly. She continued saying that her thoughts and prayers are with their teacher Zwerner who was seriously injured, and with students and staff dealing with the "aftereffects of this tragedy," Fox News reported.

Zwerner's alma mater, James Madison University, Virginia, also offered their prayers and best wishes for the teacher's health and recovery.

In a press conference Friday, Dr. George Parker, superintendent of Newport News Public Schools, stated that there is an urgent need to keep guns away from the hands of young people and children, to which the public agreed, calling on the state and the federal government to execute stricter gun laws so that firearms do not reach the hands of children.

Others have called the school district for strict placement of metal detectors and law enforcement personnel in schools. Others also suggested requiring students to start carrying clear backpacks.

Related Article: Oxford School Shooting: Suspect Showed Red Flags and Disturbing Texts to Parents Before Incident