The family of the 6-year-old boy accused of shooting a teacher at his Virginia elementary school is speaking out for the first time.

The family said the "firearm our son accessed was secured."

The 6-year-old, who has not been named publicly, allegedly took a handgun from his home on Jan. 6, put it in his backpack and brought it to Richneck Elementary School in Newport News. He allegedly shot and wounded 25-year-old teacher Abigail Zwerner in a first grade classroom in an "intentional" act, according to police.

Police said the 9 mm Taurus pistol was legally purchased by the boy's mother.

The 6-year-old's family released a statement through a spokesperson, saying, "Our family has always been committed to responsible gun ownership and keeping firearms out of the reach of children."

"We have been cooperating with local and federal law enforcement to understand how this could have happened," the family said.

No one has been charged and the investigation is ongoing. Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew said Wednesday that interviews with children who were in the classroom should be completed next week. He did not give an exact date on when the investigation would be completed or if charges would be filed.

About 16 to 20 students were in the room at the time of the shooting and none of them were physically injured, officials said. After Zwerner was shot, she ushered all of her students out of the classroom, according to police. Drew call her "a hero" who "saved lives."

The 6-year-old's family said, "Our heart goes out to our son's teacher and we pray for her healing in the aftermath of such an unimaginable tragedy as she selflessly served our son and the children in the school. She has worked diligently and compassionately to support our family as we sought the best education and learning environment for our son."

Their son "suffers from an acute disability and was under a care plan at the school that included his mother or father attending school with him and accompanying him to class every day," the family said. "The week of the shooting was the first week when we were not in class with him. We will regret our absence on this day for the rest of our lives."

The family said the 6-year-old is receiving treatment at a hospital.

"We continue to pray for his teacher's full recovery, and for her loved ones who are undoubtedly upset and concerned," the family said. "At the same time, we love our son and are asking that you please include him and our family in your prayers."

https://abcnews.go.com/US/family-6-year-shot-teacher-speaks-1st-time/story?id=96536112

Wonder if they got their rebate check yet?

Holy shit.


Fives years in public education and I've never heard of a plan where a parent attends class.  That's HARDCORE special needs.

"Please don't sue us"

He's been getting treatment in a hospital since the shooting. I wondered if it was a mental hospital, or was he injured?

Gawd damn.  That kid's plan includes a parent?  That sounds like one rough kiddo

Secured doesn’t mean laying on the shelf in the closet. Idiots, sounds like the ‘family’ is broken beyond rehabilitation.

WSJ also said a teacher searched his bag when they heard he may have brought a weapon to school and didn't find anything. I wonder if they actually checked.

If your 6yo, special needs child got access to your handgun, and brought it to school, you are NOT a responsible gun owner.

I bet the little shit concealed it like he sees on his iPad every night.

That kid will amount to nothing.

I was more shocked that it went from a parent attending every day to nothing at all just like that.

First time that the kid is allowed in the class without a parent, and the administration gets told the kid has a gun, and they don't call the parents?
Common sense says that the administration should have called the parents, have the parents do the search for a gun, and then either the parents take the kid home or have to stay with the kid during classes - just as they had been doing.

I have never felt it was realistic that you can lock your guns up and your kids can't access them; my younger self was able to get into my parents stuff when they weren't around no matter how it was locked up; I just had to remember to lock it back up and put the key back before they got home.

I take it a step further. I teach them not to attempt murder.

Absolutely nothing mental or demented about a 6yo shooting someone....let's talk about gun safety

It would be interesting to know what is so wrong with him that the parents attend every day and that he felt compelled to shoot his teacher.

Born a serial killer?

Yeahhhhh I don't think so.

Our family has always been committed to responsible gun ownership and keeping firearms out of the reach of children."

This is a lie.

"Firearm was secured" If it was the kid wouldn't have gotten a hold of it.

That kid will be arrested by age 14

I wonder if the kid brought the gun to school, stashed it before his backpack could be searched, retrieved it, and then shot the teacher.

If so, that is one cold calculating psychopath.  I'd be afraid to go to sleep in the same house.

I was barely cognitive enough to keep from running in front of a car on the way to school or eating my horse hoof glue in the first grade, much less calculating enough to sneak a gun in my backpack and shooting a teacher with it.

Yeah, they dont do that in my building either.

I had an electronic fingerprint safe that my seven year old daughter could open. I had her check before I put a gun in it. Needless to say it was returned.

Special needs but is able to sneak a handgun from home and into school, then shoot a teacher? All at 6 years old.... that kid is a future spree killer.

Kid mustve been nuts to have parents tag along.  I deal with kids like this.  Had a 7 year old try and stab a classmate last year and I don't mean with a pencil.

My guess would be that "secured" in this case means "on the top shelf in the closet -- he can't possibly reach it".

Ha, your parents were idiots if you were able to access their guns as a small child.  The only way my kids could gain access to my guns would require an acetylene cutting torch or an angle grinder with a metal cutting blade.  Of course, they would also have to bypass the motion sensors and door alarm.

Having access to the key kind of defeats the purpose of the lock lol.

Front sight to the forehead?

Two words: prison wallet

Look at the flowers.

was it? i dont recall seeing details of the weapon.

Fixt.

his parents owned a Taurus. definitely a rough house to grow up in.

It might have been that the school caved to the parents since it cost them nothing monetarily, and made the parents feel better.  It would be an easy accommodation to make.  Was it necessary is another question though.

That said, my wife has had multiple students that have a private nurse or caretaker with the kid all day every day, so outside assistance isn't unheard of.  Never heard of a parent doing that though.

I do remember in kindergarten we were handed out pencils and told to line up and sharpen them. There was a hyper kid that wasn't right in the head in front of me and as soon as he sharpened his pencil he turned around and baring his teeth and making some insane growling noise, he raised his pencil and stabbed me with it. I raised my hand to block him from stabbing me in the face or throat and the pencil point broke off in the heel of my left hand. It hurt like a mrfr'.

The teacher snatched us both out of line and I remember her trying to dig the lead out of the heel of my hand with a needle which hurt like hell too.

I remember hearing that crazy kid yelling and screaming while getting his ass beat downstairs by another teacher. Never saw him after that day but I carried that black lead in my hand until high school.

The whole statement comes across as if written by a lawyer. He likely barely consulted the "parents." He knew what the statement needed to say.

There's a big difference between a child who gets hold of a gun by accident and problems result from that by accidental shooting.
It's QUITE another story when the kid grows up in a family/culture where it even occurs to him to take it to school to shoot his teacher, especially at that age.

Dindu

Dindu Nuffins?

beat by 1 second lol.

Ouch. Good block, though.

Hang on, should have called the police.  At that point its gone beyond school authority. Its like those school sexual assaults i hear about,  the school authorities should be last to know, police first.

Dammit, there goes the cure for cancer.

I doubt those are the parents actual words.

Attached File

Or kids are derranged little idiots today if getting their hands on the families guns means an accidental shooting and charges brought against the parents.

I grew up in a hunting culture and many of my friends faimilies had unlocked guns leaning in closets, unlockedc glass gun cabinets or gun racks on the wall along with mounted deer heads. It didn't mean it was an excuse to put our grubby hands on them and shoot each other, any more than pulling kitchen knives out of the drawers and stab each other or getting into the parents liquer cabinet and needing our stomachs pumped in the ER.  

 

From the story- The family said the "firearm our son accessed was secured."

Obviously NOT

Medicated kid 100%