6-year-old student shoots, injures teacher at Virginia elementary school

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WWBT/Gray News) - A teacher was injured when a student shot her at an elementary school in Newport News on Friday afternoon, police say.

Newport News police responded to a report of a shooting at Richneck Elementary School around 2 p.m. At a news conference, Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew said a 6-year-old student shot a woman who teaches at the school while the two were isolated in a classroom after an altercation.

“All of the students are safe,” the school system said about the shooting at Richneck Elementary School. “The perpetrator is in police custody.”

The teacher’s injuries are life-threatening, but at the last update, her condition is “improving.”

Newport News police said Friday just before 3 p.m. that “there is no longer an active shooter.”

Drew said the shooting was not accidental but did not provide details about how the student got the gun. He also said in the conference no one else was involved in the incident, and other students did “an amazing job” handling the situation.

The school announced it will not be holding classes Monday.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the Newport News Police Department at 757-247-2500.