Mother of six-year-old who shot and injured school teacher is charged

hollydolly

hollydolly

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A grand jury in Virginia has indicted the mother of a 6-year-old boy who shot his teacher on charges of child neglect and failing to secure her handgun in the family's home, a prosecutor said Monday.

A grand jury sitting in Newport News charged the boy's 25-year-old mother with felony child neglect and a misdemeanor charge of endangering a child by reckless storage of a firearm, Commonwealth's Attorney Howard Gwynn said in a news release.

The Associated Press isn't naming the mother to shield the identity of her son.

The boy shot first-grade teacher Abby Zwerner on Jan. 6 inside her classroom at Richneck Elementary School. Police said the boy's mother legally purchased the gun. Her attorney, James Ellenson, has said the gun was secured on a top shelf in her closet and had a trigger lock.

Ellenson said Monday that his client plans to turn herself in later this week. He did not comment on the indictments, which were first reported by the Daily Press.

Virginia's law on felony child neglect says any parent, guardian or other person responsible for the care of a child 'whose willful act or omission in the care of such child was so gross, wanton, and culpable as to show a reckless disregard for human life' is guilty of a Class 6 felony. The charge is punishable by up to five years in prison.

The misdemeanor charge says it's against Virginia law to 'recklessly leave a loaded, unsecured firearm in such a manner as to endanger the life or limb of any child under the age of fourteen.' That charge is punishable by a maximum of one year in jail.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...harged-child-neglect.html?ico=related-replace
 

A child that young should be supervised and have full attention of their mother. Apparently no father on the scene, so he offers no responsibility. I think it should be a class 6 felony.
 
Dee Jay said:
A child that young should be supervised and have full attention of their mother. Apparently no father on the scene, so he offers no responsibility. I think it should be a class 6 felony.
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I think that it has to send a message to other parents too, that if they are careless about their childrens' access to lethal weapons they too could go to prison...
 

I don't remember which mass shooting this was, but the parents had a gun safe, and a kid got the weapon, and went on a killing spree. The parents thought their kids could not get into the safe, but that wasn't the case. I think if you have kids, you shouldn't have weapons in the house. If you can get into a gun safe, your kids probably can too. Little eyes see a lot.
 
hollydolly said:
A grand jury sitting in Newport News charged the boy's 25-year-old mother with felony child neglect and a misdemeanor charge of endangering a child by reckless storage of a firearm
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Good, I hope she is made a good example of.

Her actions lead to an innocent person being shot, and probably psychological damage to her son... She needs to go to jail!
 
fuzzybuddy said:
I don't remember which mass shooting this was, but the parents had a gun safe, and a kid got the weapon, and went on a killing spree. The parents thought their kids could not get into the safe, but that wasn't the case. I think if you have kids, you shouldn't have weapons in the house. If you can get into a gun safe, your kids probably can too. Little eyes see a lot.
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Well for say Sandy Hook, the kid killed his mother, then took the keys to the gun locker. So if they're going to that level, no gun locker will stop them from getting the gun.
 
Disgustedman said:
My mother had a .32 hidden
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My father had a pair of Baretta 32s he kept. But early on he showed them to us and told us of their danger. Have to admit I snuck in and looked at them alone a few times. However he did not keep any ammunition anywhere I ever found. And am pretty sure that even if he did we'd never have shot anyone...

Those were the only guns in the house, he wasn't a gun person. I have more guns here, used to hunt and inherited a few. I learned the hide your ammunition lesson, none in the house, at all. If I want to shoot I buy it and then use it up... My guns are also under lock and key, even without ammo.
 
Boy, 6, boasted about shooting Virginia teacher Abigail Zwerner
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66451768

The six-year-old student who shot his teacher in the US earlier this year, boasted about the incident saying "I shot [her] dead", unsealed court documents show.

While being restrained after the shooting at a Virginia school, the boy is said to have admitted "I did it", adding "I got my mom's gun last night".

Sad revelation... I hope the boy finds a way to recover from this, he's only 6, so maybe. However the article also says:

The documents also mention another incident with the same student while he was in kindergarten. A retired teacher told police he started "choking her to the point she could not breathe".

Makes me wonder...
 
helenbacque said:
Apperantly access to weapon not only problem. It was his intent to do as he did. What could make a 6 yr. Old think that way?
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complete disconnect.... like cussing around a toddler and then being surprised when they say a bad word...

parents may not be around to teach them any sort of consequence for actions ....
it would be what is kid exposed to ..... violent videos/ Movies.... maybe false bravado...... his bragging about shooting seems mimic that.

i have seen kids who were around people who talked a bunch of BS about "i would smack someone " ( assault) or" wish i could shoot..." etc...then kid mimics what he or she heard.................... Adults may say stuff that they would not follow through (because they are aware they will be arrested ).........but kids believe the adults in their life and may think it is OK.

I remember a boy who was very physical and punched people etc ...... his dad had claimed at home when people pissed him off he would punch them ..........Kid found out the hard way being put in the system that dad was full of it ........ Dad just liked to talk big like he was a tough guy.
 
To be fair, mom is in damage control mode, lawyer'd up and taking up for her son.
It's a mom thing. They always take up for their children.
... Even when their children end up on death row ... if they live that long.

When the "hard hitting" ABC "journalist" asked was the gun locked ...
Lawyer and mom side eyed each other and simply nodded ... uhm hmm

So it's the teacher's fault for not listening to the boy and the gun's fault for coming unlocked.
6yr old is smarter than mom and lawyer. As the lawyer explained, they haven't a clue how it happened.
Boy knows how it happened ... but don't quote me on that. Teacher & gun fault and all ya know.

Just glad the boy really liked the teacher. Hate to think what might have happened otherwise.
 
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"At the time, the teacher told police, the boy was making statements, including, "I shot that b---- dead," the documents said."

It will be interesting to see what this young boy's future will be like.
 
It's scary to think that a six year old would purposely shoot anyone then show no remorse for it. I'm glad his mother was charged. All parents who allow access to their weapons which are used by their children to harm others should be charged. Hell...some of those parents put guns in their children's hands, teach them how to shoot and leave the weapons lying around.
 

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