A six-year-old boy has been accused of opening fire in an elementary school classroom in US state of Virginia on Friday, injuring one teacher. 

The teacher has been identified as Abby Zwerner by FOX3 Now News. The teacher was rushed to Riverside Regional Medical Center with life-threatening injuries, where she remains in critical condition, authorities said.

“The individual is a six-year-old student. He is right now in police custody,” local police chief Steve Drew told a news conference, adding that “this was not an accidental shooting.”

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According to Drew, the boy had a handgun in the classroom and he fired it after an altercation. However, what triggered the altercation is not known. Investigators were trying to figure out where the boy obtained the gun from.

“We have been in contact with our commonwealth’s attorney [local prosecutor] and some other entities to help us best get services to this young man,” Drew said.

An investigation is currently underway into the incident.

Newport News Schools Superintendent George Parker said Friday that its “students got a lesson in gun violence and what guns can do disrupt to not only an educational environment but also a family, a community.”

Who is Abby Zwerner?

Abby Zwerner, a 25-year-old first-grade teacher, remains hospitalized after being shot Friday. She belongs to the nearby Williamsburg, Virginia. Zwerner was in the school in Newport News – a city of about 185,000 people in southeastern Virginia – when she was shot in the chest.

Following the incident, she was praised for being selfless.

“She screamed at her kids to run away” immediately after being struck by a single bullet, Sebastian Gonzalez-Hernandez whose own 6-year-old was also in the classroom during the shooting told FOX3.

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“She is a great teacher who works hard. My son loves her very much, and we’re all very sad about what happened,” the father said. “We’re all thinking about her and hoping she gets better soon.