VA- 6-YEAR-OLD is in custody after shooting teacher

[Charlot123]

In my county in Michigan, we have Oakland County Children's Village. This is a facility that cares for youth and teens who are involved with the court system. Presumably, there is some type of facility like this in Virginia where the child is being held for his safety and that of the community. JMO

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www.oakgov.com

How would this kid's life be?
I wouldn't ever shoot anyone at 6 even if I had access to guns, but I barely remember what was going on in my class. So what if he grows in a "facility", not the best place, not remembering what had happened but knowing he did something horrible? What chances of improvement would he have?

 

[Hexe]

How would this kid's life be?
I wouldn't ever shoot anyone at 6 even if I had access to guns, but I barely remember what was going on in my class. So what if he grows in a "facility", not the best place, not remembering what had happened but knowing he did something horrible? What chances of improvement would he have?

He needs an extensive psychological therapy, that I assume can be provided by a facility like this. <modsnip>

 

[fred&edna]

Chief Drew highlights police presence as students return to Richneck

Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew was at Richneck Elementary on the first day back for students since the Jan. 6 shooting at the school.

www.wavy.com

...

Drew also told us about the final report on what happened and how it happened, getting it ready for the Commonwealth’s Attorney,

“I got a little projection on when they will submit it to the Commonwealth’s Attorney,” Drew said. “I’m not going to you that date, but it is coming. It’s still one or two days ahead of where I thought they would be.”
...
“I think we got a good idea on how it happened,” Drew said. “I’m not going to report that date, but I’m looking forward to giving it to the Commonwealth’s Attorney to review.”

This sounds like good news.

 

[Laughing]

It does seem to be a regional thing.

Well, I don't attend those sort of events so I've just never heard of it before.

iirc mine is the mid-sized and acommenter mentions that TSA likes them:

Clear Project Bags | KnitPicks.com

www.knitpicks.com

Available with "your" team's logos, of course, on other websites.

 

[MsMarple]

Am I the only one who thinks these new school issued clear backpacks are just creepy and sort of border on breach of privacy, not to mention a complete waste of money? Sure, anyone could conceal anything personal or private inside of a bag inside of the clear back pack but that sort of defeats the purpose since anyone could do the same thing with a weapon.

jmo

For balance, when I lived in Florida in the late 1970's I worked at a couple high end department stores while my husband was attending law school. We were required to carry clear purses - provided by the store - into work. At that time I didn't feel it was an invasion of my privacy, mainly because I had nothing to hide. But I can see where in today's thinking it might be regarded as such.

At the same time if I had a child in school right now I would welcome any measure that could potentially prevent another incident. If, for example, my grandkids had to carry clear backpacks, well, so be it if it means another level of safety. MOO of course.

 

[shotgun09]

I understand the concept of the sophisticated xray machines, and the clear plastic bags. My goodness, look what just happened there! What is bothersome to me, is the end of the age of innocence. These littles are 6 ! They now have been told not to worry, we will see what's in your bag, and all your classmates bags, because we do not want " a weapon" ??? snuck in? So trust is out the window, and suspicions and anxiety are rushed in to their tender innocent brains. It's just too sad, all the way around. MOO

 

[alex dvport]

I understand the concept of the sophisticated xray machines, and the clear plastic bags. My goodness, look what just happened there! What is bothersome to me, is the end of the age of innocence. These littles are 6 ! They now have been told not to worry, we will see what's in your bag, and all your classmates bags, because we do not want " a weapon" ??? snuck in? So trust is out the window, and suspicions and anxiety are rushed in to their tender innocent brains. It's just too sad, all the way around. MOO

I’m speculating, but maybe the clear bags provide some comfort for these young children. Knowing that they can see a weapon in a bag, might help to alleviate some anxiety. Jmo

Edited to add: being in school when a teacher was shot may have more heavily contributed to their innocence. Again, jmo

 

[Tweet57]

I understand the concept of the sophisticated xray machines, and the clear plastic bags. My goodness, look what just happened there! What is bothersome to me, is the end of the age of innocence. These littles are 6 ! They now have been told not to worry, we will see what's in your bag, and all your classmates bags, because we do not want " a weapon" ??? snuck in? So trust is out the window, and suspicions and anxiety are rushed in to their tender innocent brains. It's just too sad, all the way around. MOO

Great post

 

[sds71]

Tip line created for Newport News Public School employees

Weeks after the shooting at Richneck Elementary School, Newport News Public Schools has created a tip line for employees to report concerns they may have within the school division.

www.nbc12.com

'It was a normal day' | Parents pleased with first day back at Richneck Elementary

The consensus of the children 13News Now spoke to walking out of class was that they missed their classmates and were bored during their three weeks at home.

www.13newsnow.com

 

[fred&edna]

The lawyer representing the former principal of Richneck Elementary School will be issuing a statement Thursday.

Briana Foster-Newton, who was overseeing the school as of the 2022-2023 school year, was named the school’s principal in July 2022 per the school’s social media pages and is still employed by the district.

Foster-Newton’s lawyer will be issuing the statement during a press conference on Feb. 2 at 1 p.m. at Royal Manchester in Richmond.

Lawyer for Former Richneck Elementary School principal to issue statement

 

[shotgun09]

The lawyer representing the former principal of Richneck Elementary School will be issuing a statement Thursday.

Briana Foster-Newton, who was overseeing the school as of the 2022-2023 school year, was named the school’s principal in July 2022 per the school’s social media pages and is still employed by the district.

Foster-Newton’s lawyer will be issuing the statement during a press conference on Feb. 2 at 1 p.m. at Royal Manchester in Richmond.

Lawyer for Former Richneck Elementary School principal to issue statement

I can only imagine....

 

[chipwhitley]

I sure hope we will get more info about what admin said to teachers regarding searching the student for the gun.

 

[Ladyotm]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1616105702786994178

I am just seeing this statement from the parents. The gun was retrieved and used by the 6 year old. <modsnip - no source link for information stated as fact> With his care plan specifying that a parent accompany him to school daily, I wonder why none was with him that day? Was there a change in his IEP? It seems like the regular public school was not the proper educational setting for this child. The desire to put students in the least restrictive environment is failing as students are not being placed in the most beneficial environment. This baby has deep issues. I hope he gets all the help and support he can so that he lives the best possible life. Prayers for his teacher, classmates, community, and family.

 

[Ladyotm]

My fear if left unaddressed, and the child is put right back into the public school system without any specialized treatment/therapy and schooling for children with disabilities and anger mgt issues it'll happen again.
Next time someone will die, then progress onto a mass school shooting in his preteen years.
What is to stop this from happening?
The parents? The police? One teacher who is already overwhelmed and underpaid?
Nikolas Cruz had a history of being problematic and needed special education and they just put him back into the public school system instead. Not sure why either? Lack of funding?

You are right, this situation happens time and time again.

 

[Ladyotm]

I work with Behavioral and emotionally disturbed children of all school ages, as a school counselor. I do threat assessments regularly, then meet with a team to decide the level of threat. Then administration decides how to respond. One critical aspect of the assessment is the likelihood and ability for that child to follow through on the threat. A child threatens to blow up the school? We investigate if that child has knowledge and means to acquire a bomb and use it. 10 year old= not likely for example. When a child threatens to shoot someone, we speak with family about safety care planning at home and anywhere they go to ensure the child won’t have access to a gun. I can see deciding it unlikely a 6 year old would be able to catch his teacher on fire and burn her to death, however we would certainly meet with family and the child to see if he has access to lighters, if he’s caught things on fire before etc. That threat would not make me automatically consider him bringing a gun to school. It’s complicated. Kids (and adults) say things frequently out of anger so most threats are never followed through on. There is a huge lack of good, available places to send kids who need intensive inpatient mental health services as well. Final thought is that we, as a school, can’t say he needs to go somewhere for treatment or else school pays for it. All we can decide is whether he’s at high enough risk to be expelled or put in home bound or outside school environment learning which the school would provide.
Just sharing my not well organized thoughts lol! All my opinion

I'm just curious on the outside school learning environment. What does that look like? Where would the child go? Thanks for sharing!

 

[Ladyotm]

First off, Welcome Back eddybody!

Let me take this time to be hopeful ( and 'other methods' if you are so inclined)

that:

1. AZ continues to heal and strengthen, both physically and mentally.

2. The young 6 year old boy has every tool and option available for his growth, safety and healing.

3. The parents of the boy, who also need strength and healing, while coming too grips with the reality set before them.

4. The students and staff of Richneck, who have been put on the frontlines of this horror. They need much help and hope.

5. The entire community of Newport News for the same.

Much needs to be accomplished here, and IMO first is the truth shall be known. Then and only then are we able to move forward, and fix and possibly prevent another catastrophe .

RMOO

Great to hear all of this, especially 1 and 2!

 

[Ladyotm]

Couldn't refuse a child but you could certainly request other staff (social worker, etc) to come into class or meet with student/parents. Normally, once a student gets physically violent in the classroom action should be taken immediately to ensure safety of other students (&staff). Ive never experienced otherwise.
I would also think that given that the child has disabilities, there would be other services involved, but it doesn't sound like many aspects were taken seriously, so i wonder also how these were addressed.

Sounds like you work in a school/district that has their stuff together and does what is best for their students and staff. Sadly, it's not always that way. But things would be oh so much better if it were!

 

[Ladyotm]

Restorative justice? Many schools are putting policies like this in place where instead of suspending or expelling kids violent children, they instead remain in the classroom and teachers and other staff are supposed to try and determine the root cause of the behaviors and "create a plan and repair relationships" . I believe this school had some form if this novel policy (per the following article).

Additionally, there's some interesting information regarding this district, specifically:

Quote:

At a school board meeting in 2017 district officials discussed efforts to reduce school suspensions while implementing restorative practices. Tracy Pope, then the school system’s restorative practices specialist, said at the time that such practices did not do away with anything already in place, but was rather “another way to look at how we do discipline.”

Well before the Jan. 6 shooting of a first-grade teacher, not all educators were happy with the handling of student discipline. According to a spring 2022 survey of teachers and staff, only 60% of respondents said administrators were addressing negative student behaviors.

End Quote

Link:

Schools face pressure to take harder line on discipline

As kids’ behavior reaches crisis points after the stress and isolation of pandemic shutdowns, many schools are facing pressure from critics to rethink their approaches to discipline — including policies intended to reduce suspensions and expulsions.

apnews.com

In my experience at a school using restorative justice, it was overly used and used for every instance. With some issues, restorative justice was not the right solution. Also, the players involved have to be invested in it. Students have to truly care about correcting things. A lot of time, participation was simply not to get in trouble that time. I think restorative justice is a great tool in appropriate situations. It can really help students develop problem solving skills.

 

[fred&edna]

I wonder if the police investigative report will be in the hands of Howard Gwynn (Commonwealth's Attorney-Newport News) by Friday? (Friday will mark 4 weeks since Abigail Zwerner was shot in her classroom).

 

[Simply Southern]

Richneck parent sounded alarm prior to shooting, staff left in dark during lockdown

A trove of documents obtained by 10 On Your Side shine a light on teacher fears and parent warnings before a 6-year-old shot his first grade teacher Abby Zwerner on Jan. 6, and that teachers had lo…

www.wavy.com

A trove of documents ....

In an email sent on the night of the shooting, a parent wrote to former Superintendent George Parker III that she had warned the Richneck principal of a threat two days prior to the shooting. She wrote that the principal had called her on subsequent days and assured her the issue was “handled.”

...
“I am upset that, for an hour, I was locked down in my classroom, trying to keep my students silent, infer that the worst was around the corner and any minute we would have a confrontation or need to run,” she wrote. “Why was communication not sent to staff via email that the threat was contained but that we were to remain in lock down until released?”

...
“It all begins with discipline,” Marse said. “If there’s not discipline in a classroom, kids aren’t learning. a lot of it stems from the state. Districts have to report their discipline numbers to the state. They have to report their attendance numbers to the state.