US authorities on Monday (January 9) commended the heroism of a teacher who was shot and wounded by a 6-year-old boy, saying she “saved lives” by evacuating all the children from the class, before they were taken care of. Abigail Zwerner, 25, “saved lives Friday,” said Steve Drew, police chief of Newport News, Va. (east), where the tragedy occurred, in a news conference for a first-grader at Richneck Elementary School. She was still hospitalized and in stable condition as of Monday, Steve Drew said.
After an undisclosed discussion with his teacher, a 6-year-old boy brandished a Taurus 9mm pistol. Abigail Zwerner held out her hand in a defensive movement, and the child fired a bullet that pierced the young woman’s hand before entering her chest. “She made all the kids leave the class and she was the last one out of the room,” he said. “I think she saved lives because I don’t know what would have happened if those children had stayed in the room.” Between 16 and 20 children were in the room at the time of the tragedy and no one but the teacher was injured.
The gun had been legally purchased from his mother
When police arrived minutes later, an unidentified school worker tried to subdue the child, who hit her several times before being taken away by police in a car. Local authorities have decided to temporarily suspend his parents’ custody of the child and to transfer him to a medical center, where the police chief said he was staying on Monday. The gun had been legally purchased from his mother.
SEE ALSO – USA: A teacher was fired after showing a painting of Mohammed
This is not the first time that the small town of Newport News, near the large Norfolk naval base, has been the scene of a school facility shootout. In September 2021, two 17-year-olds were shot and injured by another student at a high school in the city. Shootings, particularly in schools, are a scourge in the United States. In May, a teenager killed 19 schoolchildren and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. According to the Gun Violence Archive website, more than 44,000 gun-related deaths were recorded in the United States last year, half of them from suicide and the other half from homicide, accident or self-defense.