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

[sds71]

Newport News teachers say they're fed up with student behavior, lack of support

Anger and frustration are common feelings among Newport News teachers as they express safety concerns following the Richneck Elementary School shooting.

www.wtkr.com

 

[airportwoman]

It sounds to me like the biggest scandal here is how the school district was trying to cover things up, and whaddya bet the decisions were made by people who haven't set foot in a classroom since they graduated?

 

[Ontario Mom]

School official learned 6-year-old might have weapon before shooting, superintendent says

It was a typo. There are reports that admin was informed he may have a gun prior to his arriving at school. See attached article.

The article says the administrator was made aware of the gun before the shooting, not before the boy arrived at school.

 

[sds71]

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

 

[shotgun09]

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

IMO, this statement reads like a well prepared legal defense statement to me. No further comment as I digest what was said.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

IMO, this statement reads like a well prepared legal defense statement to me. No further comment as I digest what was said.

Exactly what I was thinking. The parents don't want to be held accountable, and neither does the school district. I'm beginning to understand why there has been so little information forthcoming in this case. JMO

 

[lonetraveler]

Just got here, this may have already been posted.

Lawyer: 6-year-old who shot teacher has ‘acute disability’

The family’s statement was released by an attorney and did not elaborate further on where the 9mm handgun was kept.

www.wect.com

Interesting that a parent was suppose to attend school with him.

 

[Ontario Mom]

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

I'm glad they chose to put a statement out there.

Unfortunately they've already been demonized in the court of public opinion so anything they say now will be used to further castigate them. They're basically danged if they do, danged if they don't.

My heart goes out to them, their boy, the teacher, all the kids in the class, and anyone else directly affected by this.

jmo

 

[shotgun09]

The sentence from the family's statement, " The firearm our son accessed was secured." WHAT????
I would think that Abby Zwerner, THE VICTIM might have a HUGELY different opinion.
IMO, that gun was anything but secured, if a six year old with "acute disabilities" somehow got his hands on it.
Just sayin

 

[Veronica Sawyer]

I know I’ll more than likely be in the minority here for saying what I’m about to say, and I totally understand why most be opposed to it, but I truly believe that schools would benefit from metal detectors. Would going through one every single morning be wildly inconvenient for students and staff with piercings, keys, etc? To the utmost degree. Would it reduce a place of education to a prison? I mean, no more than it does an airport! Ultimately, I just feel the negative connotations and whatnot might be worth overlooking if it means potentially saving lives.

/JMO

 

[lonetraveler]

The sentence from the family's statement, " The firearm our son accessed was secured." WHAT????
I would think that Abby Zwerner, THE VICTIM might have a HUGELY different opinion.
IMO, that gun was anything but secured, if a six year old with "acute disabilities" somehow got his hands on it.
Just sayin

I agree. For instance, she may think that if the gun was in her pocketbook, that it was 'secured'. JMO not saying it was in her pocketbook.
I'm very interesting as to how the weapon was secured.

 

[iamshadow21]

"secured"?

There's a quote from the Princess Bride that comes to mind. "You keep using that word...etc." Late Gen Xers/Early Millennials like myself will know it.

My position remains, if a six year old can access it, it's not secure enough.

 

[lonetraveler]

The article says the administrator was made aware of the gun before the shooting, not before the boy arrived at school.

My question after reading this article, why didn't the school contact the parents to come and get the little boy immediately after receiving information that he had a gun even if they did not find one in his backpack? He should have been kept in the Principal's office until his parents arrived. JMO

 

[shotgun09]

I have more questions!

WHO determined that 'the parents' would no longer accompany the boy to class? Was that determination satisfactory to all parties involved ?

Why was that determination made? Was the presence of the parents a benefit to the classroom as well as the boy, or a deterrence?

ETA: I am sensing a motive here.... MOO

 

[lonetraveler]

Just to add to my other comment about why weren't the parents contacted when word was out that the boy had a weapon. The weapon was not found in the backpack. If the parents had been called, they could have checked to see if the weapon was missing from its 'secured' location and just maybe this teacher would not have been shot. JMO

 

[Ontario Mom]

My question after reading this article, why didn't the school contact the parents to come and get the little boy immediately after receiving information that he had a gun even if they did not find one in his backpack? He should have been kept in the Principal's office until his parents arrived. JMO

I said the exact same thing yesterday. Honestly, I don't think anyone took it seriously.

I mean, how often does a 6 year old kid show up to school with a gun? Never, more or less. It's not a thing, at all, in any school district. Even if it's happened once or twice somewhere in the world, it's still most certainly NOT a thing that anyone would believe is real (especially if it was reported by another child, that there was a gun).

So for that reason alone, I have to give the school admins some level of slack on how they handled it.

jmo

 

[Ontario Mom]

Question for a mod... are the 6 year old's parents considered victims here as per TOS?
Just asking for clarity.

 

[Rolypolyoly]

<modsnip - quoted post was removed>

<modsnip - response to quoted post> Why would any parent want their disabled child to attend a mainstream school so badly that they would attend the school with their child daily?. That is ridiculous.
Can we not imagine for a moment that for now, mainstream was their only option and the resources were not in place to help this family?. Why would a school agree to a parent attending with their child everyday?, my guess would be that there was no other choice.

Maybe we could wait for any facts to come to light before we judge and condemn these parents for wanting the best for their child, and clearly doing their best for him.

The gun being secure is a separate issue, and I agree with everyone else, it wasn't secure if he got hold of it.

 

[TTF14]

Whoever wrote that doesn't know the difference between acute and chronic, but whatever. It does make sense why this particular child did this particular thing.<modsnip - not victim friendly>

 

[TTF14]

<modsnip - quoted post was removed> Why would any parent want their disabled child to attend a mainstream school so badly that they would attend the school with their child daily?. That is ridiculous.
Can we not imagine for a moment theat for now, mainstream was their only option and the resources were not in place to help this family?. Why would a school agree to a parent attending with their child everyday?, my guess would be that there was no other choice.

Maybe we could wait for any facts to come to light before we judge and condemn these parents for wanting the best for their child, and clearly doing their best for him.

The gun being secure is a separate issue, and I agree with everyone else, it wasn't secure if he got hold of it.

I have a friend who is at her wits' end right now with her school district and her special needs son. It's completely overwhelming. I really feel for parents like this.