A teacher was critically hurt when a six-year-old child opened fire in an elementary school classroom in the eastern US state of Virginia on Friday, according to police.
The incident at Newport News’ Richneck Elementary School on the shore did not result in any injuries to pupils.
Local Police Chief Steve Drew stated at a news conference that this was not an accidental shooting and that the student is currently in police custody.
The victim, a teacher in her 30s, was described by police as having potentially fatal injuries.
The city’s superintendent of schools George Parker expressed his dismay and disheartenment. “To ensure that adolescents do not have access to firearms, we need the community’s assistance.”
The US is plagued with school shootings, and one recent tragedy saw seven university students killed in November 2022 when fighting broke out on two campuses in the states of Idaho and Virginia.
Another significant incident happened in May of last year when a gunman, age 18, opened fire in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 children and two instructors.
The Texas shooting was the bloodiest at a US grade school since a shooter killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012.
