Newport News School Shooting: 6-Year-Old Student Wounded Teacher, Police Say - The New York Times

A 6-year-old first-grader astatine an simple schoolhouse successful Newport News, Va., changeable a teacher connected Friday day during an altercation successful a classroom, the authorities said, leaving her with “life-threatening” injuries and renewing calls for greater weapon restrictions.

The boy, who changeable the teacher with a handgun astatine astir 2 p.m., was successful constabulary custody connected Friday evening, Steve Drew, the main of the Newport News Police Department, said astatine a quality conference. He added that the teacher, a pistillate successful her 30s, was taken to a section infirmary and that her information had somewhat improved by precocious Friday afternoon.

The superintendent of Newport News Public Schools, Dr. George Parker, said astatine the quality league that “we request to support guns retired of the hands of our young people.”

Photos and video taken instantly aft the shooting astatine Richneck Elementary School successful Newport News connected Friday showed the chaos that had ensued arsenic officers swarmed the school’s ceramic building: children appeared acrophobic and confused, parents stood beside transgression country portion and dozens of officers patrolled the area.

Trannisha Brown, whose 11-year-old son, Carter Jackson, is simply a fifth-grader astatine Richneck, said successful an interrogation that soon aft the shooting, she received a frightening telephone from her son.

Carter, she said, sheltered connected the level of his schoolroom with his friends aft they heard gunfire.

“It shook maine up proceeding those kids crying and going frantic,” said Ms. Brown, 32. “All they knew was that determination was a shooter successful the schoolhouse and they didn’t cognize wherever the shooter was.”

She stayed connected the telephone with Carter, trying to comfortableness him. “You are going to beryllium each right,” she recalled telling him.

At the quality conference, Chief Drew said that schoolhouse officials had worked rapidly to bring each of the students and teachers to the school’s gymnasium, and that the authorities had been successful interaction with lawyers to find however to champion proceed.

“I cannot power entree to weapons,” Dr. Parker said. “My teachers cannot power entree to weapons.” He added, “Today our students got a acquisition successful weapon unit and what guns tin bash to disrupt not lone an acquisition environment, but besides a family, a community.”

Dr. Parker said schoolhouse would beryllium closed connected Monday “as we enactment connected the intelligence wellness of our unit and our students.”

The shooting successful Newport News, a metropolis of much than 180,000 people, astir 70 miles southeast of Richmond. Va., stunned officials arsenic they began to analyse what had gone incorrect wrong the school.

“I’m successful shock, and I’m successful awe, and I’m disheartened,” Dr. Parker said.

The politician of Newport News, Phillip Jones, said astatine a quality league that portion the shooting was “still raw” the metropolis was taking steps to guarantee that thing akin did not hap again.

Curtis Bethany, a councilman for the city, said Newport News was dealing with “unchartered” territory. “I’ve ne'er heard of a 6-year-old going to schoolhouse with a loaded gun.”

Incidents astatine schools involving a shooter truthful young are exceptionally rare.

David Riedman, who founded the K-12 School Shooting Database aft the wide shooting astatine a precocious schoolhouse successful Parkland, Fla., successful 2018, has compiled information connected each schoolhouse shooting — anytime a firearm has been discharged connected schoolhouse spot — dating backmost to 1970. He recovered 16 cases involving shooters nether the property of 10.

Three of them progressive 6-year-old children. Two of those were ruled accidental shootings: One successful 2011 astatine an elementary school successful Houston successful which a pupil had a weapon that went off, injuring 3 people; and different successful Mississippi successful 2021, erstwhile a first-grader changeable a chap pupil with a weapon helium had brought to schoolhouse and was playing with. In the 3rd case, which attracted nationalist attention, a 6-year-old lad changeable and killed a young miss arsenic the teacher was lining up students successful a hallway.

According to Mr. Riedman’s research, determination has been lone 1 shooting astatine a schoolhouse that progressive idiosyncratic nether 6 years old: a kindergartner, aged 5, changeable a weapon successful the cafeteria of his schoolhouse successful Memphis, Tenn., successful 2013. No 1 was injured.

The convulsive occurrence successful Newport News underscored the persistent menace of weapon unit astatine schools crossed the country. In May, a wide shooting astatine an simple schoolhouse successful Uvalde, Texas, near 19 children and 2 teachers dead. In September, different schoolhouse shooting successful Oakland, Calif., near six injured.

The president of the Virginia Education Association, Dr. James J. Fedderman, said successful a statement that helium was “saddened that we indispensable respond to different schoolhouse shooting present successful Virginia.”

Becky Pringle, the president of the National Education Association, said: “We nonstop each of our hopes for a afloat betterment to the pedagogue injured successful yet different horrific enactment of weapon unit successful our schools. But contiguous we are again discussing the carnage of different schoolhouse shooting. This volition not halt until elected leaders instrumentality consequential enactment and basal up to the weapon lobby to forestall weapon unit successful our communities and school.”

Dr. Parker said that portion territory schools person “metal detection capability,” the schools bash not marque children locomotion done a metallic detector each day.

“If we person a perceived threat, oregon an issue, we administer random metallic detections connected those days,” helium said.

Still, helium emphasized that guns look connected field due to the fact that of “access successful the community.”

“This is not a Newport News problem,” helium said. “It’s a bigger and broader occupation than what we’re seeing today.”

Christopher Mele, Tim Arango and Leah Small contributed reporting.