The six-year-old child who purposefully fired a gun at his first-grade teacher Abby Zwerner was on the verge of having the weapon taken away from him, and due to his age, he may never be charged with a crime.

The boy pulled out the handgun as the first-graders at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, were about to leave for an art session after finishing a tale.

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According to Brittaney Gregory, whose son was also enrolled in the class, “She was going to confiscate it, and that’s when he shot,” as per The Washington Post,

The students quickly exited the classroom and entered another, where they remained in lockdown.

Abby Zwerner, 25, the boy’s first-grade teacher, was taken by ambulance to the hospital on Friday with critical wounds. It seems improbable that the child will ever face criminal charges, despite the fact that he is still in custody.

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No matter how terrible the offence, it would be practically difficult to prosecute a six-year-old, according to associate professor of law Andrew Block at the University of Virginia School of Law.

According to Block, the “infancy defense” holds that children under the age of seven lack the mental capacity to develop criminal intent.

The need that all defendants be competent to stand trial is the harder obstacle, assuming the prosecution could get past that, Block said. That implies that you must comprehend the nature of the legal actions taken against you and participate in your own defence. A six-year-old cannot possibly fit that description.

“Such a juvenile justice system would not be suitable for the juvenile justice system,” Guns must be secured from children under the age of 14 according to Virginia law, therefore an adult might be charged with a misdemeanour.

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Zwerner and her family had a meeting with Newport News police chief Steve Drew on Saturday morning.

Although her injuries have been classified as life-threatening, she is presently in a serious but stable state. The teacher who was shot was Gregory’s favourite, according to Gregory’s son, who described her as cheerful and outgoing. 

Gregory thinks her son was profoundly impacted by what he saw and felt.