Six-year-old in custody after shooting teacher

Why did a 6 year old have a gun?

I heard on the news, about this, the police are saying,
that this was not an accident, but a premeditated act.

What will happen to a child under these circumstances,
the parents have to be responsible for having guns in
the open that let him carry one to school.

Mike.
 
This is the teacher...
66292529-11608763-image-a-6_1673064642293.jpg


Police confirmed a six-year-old student had been the one to fire the terrifying shot, but authorities are still looking into how the first-grader managed to get a gun.

'This was not an accidental shooting,' Newport News Chief Steve Drew said at a press conference on Friday. 'It was in a classroom, an altercation took place there. We did not have a situation where someone was going around the school shooting. We had a situation in one particular location where a gunshot was fired.'

A grandmother of one of the students said that a student brought 'shiny gold bullets' to school last week, but it is unclear if it is the same child who was taken into custody today.

A parent told the school they did nothing, now look,' she wrote on Facebook.

..she said: 'The parents outside stated that their child told them a kid brought golden shiny bullets to school and was thinking about bringing his gun. The student told the parent, who informed the school. And the school just yesterday got back to the parent saying the parent of the kid said it was a nerf bullet and the parent said nerf bullets aren't shiny and gold.'

She was not positive if the child who brought the bullets is the same child allegedly involved in the shooting today.

The school, however, does have the capability of metal detecting students, Superintendent George Parker said at the press conference. They do not perform the test on every student, every day, but said every school in the district has the capability to do so.

'When we have a perceived threat or issue, we do random metal detection on those days,' Parker said on Friday.

It is unclear if the school had enhanced testing after the bullet claim the week prior.

'Today, our students got a lesson in gun violence,' Parker said. 'We need to keep the guns out of the hands of our young people.'

A British parent of one of the students, who is currently based in the US as her husband is in the military, is now demanding the town do something about the gun problem.

'Guns, that's the biggest problem in this country,' she told WTKR. 'Why is there a seven-year-old with a bloody gun? ... How does a seven-year-old have a gun?

'I'm only here because my husband is in the military. Otherwise, I would not have chosen to come to this country.'
 
Mike said:
Why did a 6 year old have a gun?

I heard on the news, about this, the police are saying,
that this was not an accident, but a premeditated act.

What will happen to a child under these circumstances,
the parents have to be responsible for having guns in
the open that let him carry one to school.

Mike.
Click to expand...
That was my first thought...how did this child get a gun?! And the news report I saw said he did intentionally shoot the teacher. That was a shocker. When they first announced what stories they'd be covering, I was thinking the child got the gun and not knowing how to handle it, fired it accidentally. It will be interesting to see how they handle this child and certainly his parent or parents will be charged.

@hollydolly IMO teachers are already underpaid. I'm talking about good teachers. Some in underprivileged areas shouldn't be teachers at all. Too many parents aren't raising their children right these days and want to fight teachers who report their problem children. My DIL and honorary daughter were both in the school system. DIL was a TA and HD is an administrator. Both of them took no crap from the students and the way they handled them earned them respect, not only from all the students but from their colleagues as well. There is so much that is broken within many of the school districts in America. But regardless, the dedicated teachers still teach and find a way to make it work.
 
Last edited:
OneEyedDiva said:
That was my first thought...how did this child get a gun?! And the news report I saw said he did intentionally shoot the teacher. That was a shocker. When they first announced what stories they'd be covering, I was thinking the child got the gun and not knowing how to handle it, fired it accidentally. It will be interesting to see how they handle this child and certainly his parent or parents will be charged.

@hollydolly IMO teachers are already underpaid. I'm talking about good teachers. Some in underprivileged areas shouldn't be teachers at all. Too many parents aren't raising their children right these days and want to fight teachers who report their problem children. My DIL and honorary daughter were both in the school system. DIL was a TA and HD is an administrator. Both of them took no crap from the students and the way they handled them earned them respect, not only from all the students but from their colleagues as well. There is so much that is broken within many of the school districts in America. But regardless, the dedicated teachers still teach and find a way to make it work.
Click to expand...
I understand Diva.. but exactly the same thing happens here. When we were kids we had to respect the teachers, if we got punished then our parents would side with the teacher.. Nowadays that doesn't happen. Parents want to fight teachers if they so much as look at little johnny sideways.....but nowhere in the world is there children taking guns to school like the USA..
 
((Shakes head sadly and sighs)) Only in America.

Really, this is an American problem. It is for Americans to seek the solution instead of looking for blame and avoiding the obvious problem that keeps manifesting in senseless deaths.

Hint - the answer is not metal detectors at the entrance to elementary schools.
Nor is it pistol packing teachers of six year olds.
 
The full details are as yet unknown. According to one report the boy and the teacher were alone in the room and there was an 'altercation', whatever that means, and that is when the boy fired the gun at the teacher. The teacher is in hospital.

One thing I did learn is that the school does have metal detectors but they are only switched on for special days. Insufficient funding to employ the necessary security staff? In any case, totally not the solution to the problem IMO.

6-year-old in custody after Virginia teacher injured in elementary classroom shooting (nbcnews.com)
 
A Canadian perspective. In our criminal code a child of 6 would never be charged nor prosecuted for such an act. The Parents on the other hand WOULD be charged with a number of criminal code offences relating to the hand gun such as " improper storage " and "criminal negligence resulting in bodily harm " and "endangering a minor ". Upon conviction, the accused would face a prison sentence of up to ten years.

The youngest age in Canada that a minor can be arrested and charged with a crime is 12. The Youth Criminal Justice Act covers this type of situation and the names of the minors are never made public, and if a Parent is charged, their identity is also not made public. A minor convicted under the YCJA can only be sentenced to a period of incarceration until they reach the age of 18, then they must be released, and their record is sealed and only available in the case of a new Police investigation about them. Trials under the YCJA are NOT open to the public, and media reports must not disclose the identity of the minor either by name or facial features. JimB.
 
Pepper said:
I'm surprised at your assumption. The news report gave no evidence of that unless you are quoting other sources.
Click to expand...
No, I'm just speculating as to how a six year old got his hands on a gun.

If the father is a gang member, he probably has guns and in all likelihood is not a "responsible" gun owner. We see stories all the time about guns just laying around somebody's house... laying out in the open on the coffee table.

Of course, there are irresponsible gun owning parents who are not gang members and their children find the guns and shoot other people or themselves.

Guns, guns, guns. And money. That's the American way.
 
Warrigal said:
Similar in Australia although the age of criminal liability is still 10 years old over here. There is pressure to raise it to a more reasonable age in line with other English speaking jurisdictions
Click to expand...
Given the fact that both your country and mine have a criminal justice system that is based on British Common Law, it is not at all surprising that both countries have similar legal practices. JimB.
 
jimintoronto said:
Trials under the YCJA are NOT open to the public, and media reports must not disclose the identity of the minor either by name or facial features.
Click to expand...

In the U.S. our federal constitution does not forbid the publishing of a juveniles name or picture, but some media outlets will not do it anyway.
 
hollydolly said:
I understand Diva.. but exactly the same thing happens here. When we were kids we had to respect the teachers, if we got punished then our parents would side with the teacher.. Nowadays that doesn't happen. Parents want to fight teachers if they so much as look at little johnny sideways.....but nowhere in the world is there children taking guns to school like the USA..
Click to expand...
That's exactly right HD and it's such a shame.
 
ohioboy said:
In the U.S. our federal constitution does not forbid the publishing of a juveniles name or picture, but some media outlets will not do it anyway.
Click to expand...
In Canada we have NATIONAL legislation, such as the Youth Criminal Justice Act which applies in all parts of the country. The Canadian Criminal Code also covers the entire country. Each Province or Territory will also have Provincial legislation that deals with crime committed in that jurisdiction such as the Ontario Mental Health Act, or the Alberta Motor Vehicle Act. In Canada the names or faces of jurors cannot EVER be made public, by any one. Jurors here cannot speak to the media, write about how the jury reached their decisions, nor disclose the way that the decision was argued. The Jurors Act sets out a minimum fine of $ 1000 and a possible sentence of up to 3 years in prison for anyone who is convicted under that Act.

In a recent Toronto homicide case one of the Jurors used the internet to Goggle the accused man, while the Jury was in deliberations. A court security officer found out about it and he went to the Justice who was on the bench for the trial. The female juror was dismissed from the Jury, and fined $1000 for her act. The alternate juror was installed and the Jury reached a decision. In Canadian courts it is common place for either the Crown attorney or the defense attorney to request a publicity ban from the Justice on the bench. This prevents the case from being argued on the steps of the court house as is seen so many times in American criminal trials. The publicity ban ends when the jury has reached it's verdict. Then the media is free to publish the FACTS that were brought out in the trial. JimB.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top