The mother of a 6-year-old boy who shot his teacher in a Virginia classroom on Friday could potentially face criminal charges.
The shooting took place atRichneck Elementary Schoolin Newport News, Va. The bullet struck the teacher, Abigail Zwerner, in the hand before going into her upper chest. Her injuries were initially described as life-threatening but she is now in stable condition, Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew said Monday,reportsThe New York Times.
On Tuesday, Drew toldCNN This Morningthat charges were “certainly a possibility.”
“We need to check with Child Protective Services on any history,” he said. “We need to check with the school system on any behavioral issues they might have and put those together,” he said. “There’s still 16, 17 children that we want to work with a child psychologist to get some statement from.”
“And at the end of the day, when that’s all compiled together and the facts and what the law supports, the Commonwealth’s attorney will make the decision if there are any charges forthcoming … towards the parents,” he added.
University of Richmond law professor Julie E. McConnell says the state of Virginia doesn’t have “robust” legislation that requires guns be kept in a locked cabinet in a home where children are present.
“We don’t have a law that specifically says, ‘If you have minors in your home, you need to lock your gun away so that children cannot access it,” she says. “Certainly, we all think that’s a good idea, but it is not against the law to have a gun in the home, per se, that’s not locked.”
However, McConnell says a prosecutor could make the case that the parent was criminally negligent in the way he or she handled the firearm.
“I don’t know any details about this situation, but let’s say for example, the parent left it out in the open,” she says. “The child knew about it. The parent knew the child knew about it, and it was recklessly left in a way that the child could easily access it. That might be considered negligent. It’s a very difficult case to make, but it’s possible. Right now, Virginia does not have a clear law that very easily fits into this fact scenario that would allow the prosecution to go forward with a case against a parent. But I do think it’s possible that they could consider a negligence case.”
The facts in the case would have to be “pretty egregious,” says McConnell.
Billy Schuerman/The Virginian-Pilot/Tribune News Service via Getty
“This mom would’ve had to have known, most likely, that [the boy] knew about the gun, had access to it, might be curious about it, those kinds of things. There would have to have been some warning signs for the parent that the child could possibly be interested in the gun and take the gun to school. It would be very hard to prove. But I would not say that it’s impossible for the prosecution to pursue some sort of proceedings against the parent, because obviously the 6-year-old is too young to really have the cognitive capacity to understand the seriousness and significance of taking a gun to school and shooting it.”
University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias says prosecutors will proceed carefully to try to piece together what might have happened.
“I think the authorities are proceeding in a very cautious way, as they probably should,” he tells PEOPLE. “And maybe this will be a lesson for other people, hopefully, because people are talking about it. Hopefully this will make people safer and more alert to the possibility.”
The probe into potential charges will be “very fact-intensive,” Virginia defense attorney Steve Duckett tells PEOPLE.
“This is going to be most likely quite uncharted territory for any prosecution,” he says. “If a person’s going to be convicted, they would need to be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. And that is a vastly different standard of proof than that which is required just to obtain a charge.”
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Allison Anderman, Senior Counsel and Director of Local Policy for the Giffords Law Center, a gun violence prevention organization, said in an email to PEOPLE, “Virginia’s law makes an adult liable for a misdemeanor if they recklessly leave a loaded firearm accessible to a child under the age of 14. I am not aware of how the 6-year-old obtained the weapon, but if he got it from the home of a family member or friend — as most minors who commit shootings or suicide do — it is likely that this conduct would fall within Virginia’s Child Access Prevention law and the adult would be liable.”
Zwerner was standing before her students before Friday’s shooting, Chief Drew said at Monday’s press conference.
The 6-year-old boy, who has not been identified due to his age, removed the 9-mm gun and allegedly pointed it at Zwerner before shooting her, Drew said. Only one round was fired.
Zwerner held up her hand during the shooting and the bullet went through her hand and then her chest, Drew said. He also noted that Zwerner helped all the students out into the hallway before leaving the classroom herself, saying she “saved lives that day.”
source: people.com
