NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) – The Virginia elementary school where a 6-year-old boy shot his teacher reopened Monday with increased security and a new administrator, as nervous parents and students expressed optimism about upon returning to class.
Richneck Elementary School in Newport News opened its doors more than three weeks after the Jan. 6 shooting. Police said the boy brought a 9 mm handgun to school and intentionally shot his teacher, Abby Zwerner, while she was teaching his first-grade class. Zwerner, 25, was hospitalized for nearly two weeks but is now recovering at home.
Several police cars were parked outside the school when the teachers arrived.
The sign in front of the building read “Richneck Strong” and was framed by two red hearts. Other signs along the sidewalks read: “We are praying for you,” “You are loved” and “We believe in you.”
The students were met by a number of police officers, Mayor Phillip Jones and other adults who greeted them as they entered the school.
Jennifer Roe said she and her fourth-grader, Jethro, saw a therapist after the shooting.
“He is excited to be back at school. He missed it,” Roe said.
“There are concerns, of course,” he said. “We talked about this. His therapist gave me the thumbs up and said it was fine.”
Jethro said he’s still worried it “could happen again,” but that the added security makes him feel better.
“I’m still a little nervous, but I’ve calmed down a lot,” he said.
Melissa McBride, who brought her fourth-grade twins to school, said one of them wasn’t sleeping well after the shooting, but the children were feeling better after attending an open house at the school last week.
“It was nice to see their friends and everyone happy,” she said.
McBride said she was comforted to see the twins “go to school without any hesitation” but is still “a little nervous.”
Many parents dropped off their children, but Jordan Vestre said his third-grader, Jaxon, asked if he could come by himself. Vestre said she hugged Jaxon and “stepped back with tears in her eyes and watched him pick up the police and the mayor.”
Vestre said his son “completely understands what happened.” But he added: “How do you tell an 8-year-old about a school shooting? It’s ridiculous.”
Eve Parham said her fourth-grade granddaughter was very excited to be back at school, especially archery class. Parham praised the additional safety measures, including the planned distribution of clear backpacks to students.
There were two other Newport News school shootings in the 16 months leading up to the Richland shooting. Two 17-year-old students were injured when a 15-year-old boy opened fire in a busy high school corridor. Two months later, an 18-year-old student fatally shot a 17-year-old in the parking lot of another high school.
“Unfortunately, the professor had to be our sacrificial lamb to bring this to light,” Parham said, referring to Zwerner. “I applaud her. And I’m grateful that it’s good and that it caused this reaction.”
Eric Billet, who has second- and fourth-graders in Richneck, said that while he’s pleased with the increased security, he’s also concerned that Richneck might “correct too easily” with some of the new his policies, including not wanting students to bring toys or anything else. which is not considered educational.
“That’s fine, but I don’t want it to turn into a sense of imprisonment if you start suppressing too many things,” Billet said.
Not all teachers were ready to return.
James Graves, who heads the local teachers union, the Newport News Education Association, said he has heard from many who have been told that if they are not ready to return, they must use their time off or family leave and Dr. in law. , which gives some employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave.
“There are teachers who are happy to come back because they take care of the kids, and there are teachers who can’t deal with the trauma and stress like other teachers do,” Graves said. “I want to make sure that teachers who can’t deal with the stress of what happened are taken care of.”
School board president Lisa Surles-Law said roses were distributed to students and therapy dogs were made available to all first-graders.
Zwerner’s classroom remained closed. His students will be taught in a different classroom, Surles-Law said.
“We walked into the building a little while ago and (the teachers) are really excited to see their students,” she said.
The shooting rocked Newport News, a city of about 185,000 known for its shipbuilding industry. It also raised questions about school safety and how a child so young could have access to a gun and shoot his teacher.
Since then, two metal detector systems have been installed and two security officers have been assigned to the school, district spokeswoman Michelle Price said. Before the shooting, a security officer was assigned to Richneck and another elementary school. The officer was not in Richneck at the time of the shooting.
The principal and assistant principal left their jobs and a new administrator was appointed to run the school.
Superintendent George Parker, who was fired by the school board last week, said at least one school administrator received a tip that the boy might have a gun at school, but no weapons were found when he was searched. the boy’s backpack.
Zwerner’s attorney, Diane Toscano, said that on the day of the shooting, concerned Richneck staff warned administrators three times that the boy had a gun and was threatening other students, but the administration did not call the police or remove him from class.
Police said the gun was legally purchased from the boy’s mother. In a statement released through their lawyer, the boy’s family said the gun had been “secured”. Attorney James Ellenson told The Associated Press that he understood the gun was in his mother’s closet on a 20-foot-high shelf and had a trigger that required a key.
Lavoie reported from Richmond.
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