crime
USA: First grader shoots teacher – mother accused
A police officer with handcuffs and a pistol on his belt. photo
© picture alliance / dpa
An unusual accusation is causing a stir in the USA: a first grader shoots at his teacher in an elementary school and seriously injures her. Now the boy’s mother has to bear the consequences.
In the case of the first grader who shot and seriously injured his teacher at a US elementary school, the boy’s mother must now face the consequences.
A grand jury in Newport News, Virginia, where the incident happened in early January, charged the woman on two counts, prosecutor Howard Gwynn said. She is accused of neglecting her child and endangering him by negligently storing a loaded firearm.
The six-year-old took a pistol to school on January 6 and shot his teacher in the chest. The 25-year-old suffered life-threatening injuries. No one was hurt except her. According to the police, the teacher was able to get all the students out of the classroom. After the crime, it became known that the gun belonged to the boy’s mother. According to the police, she had legally acquired the gun and kept it at home.
Persistent threat of gun violence
“Each criminal case is unique in its facts, and the facts support the two counts, but our investigation into the gun incident continues,” said Attorney Gwynn. He has requested that a special grand jury be set up to determine whether additional charges against other individuals are warranted. “The safety of Newport News students is of the utmost importance,” he wrote.
Virginia law prohibits storing a loaded gun where it is accessible to children under the age of 14. According to US media, the boy’s mother is a 26-year-old woman. A grand jury is made up of jurors who decide in a private hearing whether facts presented by prosecutors warrant indictment.
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School incidents involving such young shooters are also rare in the United States. The events in Newport News underscore the continuing threat of gun violence in schools across the United States. Just two weeks ago, three children and three adults were killed in an elementary school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee.