A school staffer searched the backpack of a Virginia 6-year-old before shooting. Now, the school will install metal detectors - CNN

CNN  — 

Richneck Elementary School successful Virginia volition instal walk-through metallic detectors aft officials were alerted past week that a 6-year-old pupil who allegedly changeable his teacher mightiness person had a limb but failed to find it aft a search.

Before past week’s shooting of a first-grade teacher, schoolhouse officials were told that the kid mightiness person brought a limb to school, according to Newport News Public Schools Superintendent George Parker.

At slightest 1 schoolhouse head was notified earlier connected January 6, the time of the shooting, of the imaginable beingness of the weapon, Parker told schoolhouse families during a municipality hallway gathering connected Thursday, according to an email sent to CNN by schoolhouse territory spokesperson Michelle Price.

Parker besides said that a hunt of the boy’s backpack recovered nothing.

Price told The Washington Post successful an email Thursday nighttime that she was unaware who initially reported that the pupil whitethorn person had a weapon.

Officials are besides unaware of wherever the limb was hidden during the hunt of the child’s backpack, Price told the outlet Thursday night.

The determination to instal metallic detectors was announced by Newport News School Board Chairperson Lisa R. Surles-Law successful a property league Thursday.

The schoolhouse committee requested the metallic detectors for Richneck instantly to get the students backmost successful the building, Surles-Law said. The schoolhouse has been closed since past Friday’s shooting.

The weapon progressive was legally purchased by the child’s mother, officials said. The lad took the firearm from his location to schoolhouse successful his backpack Friday, Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew said Monday.

The teacher was “providing people acquisition erstwhile the 6-year-old kid displayed a firearm, pointed it astatine her and fired 1 round,” Drew said astatine a quality conference. “There was nary carnal conflict oregon fight.”

The teacher was changeable successful the chest, and was successful unchangeable condition, helium said.

The lad was nether a impermanent detention bid and being evaluated astatine a hospital. School officials person not released the names of the kid oregon the mother.

This was the archetypal shooting of 2023 astatine a US school, according to investigation by CNN. In 2022, determination were 60 shootings astatine K-12 schools.

According to the K-12 School Shooting Database, which contains accusation connected shootings astatine American schools since 1970, determination person been 3 different cases successful which the fishy was arsenic young arsenic 6, and they person each occurred since 2000.