Hours before a 6-year-old boy shot his teacher at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia on January 6, his backpack was searched but no weapon was found, the school system’s superintendent George Parker said, according to WAVY-TV.
Parker told parents at a meeting on Thursday that at least one administrator heard that the student might be carrying a weapon on campus, but workers did not find anything when they searched the child’s backpack.
Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew previously said the boy brought the 9mm gun to school in his backpack the day of the shooting and fired one round at his teacher, Abby Zwerner, 25, hitting her in the chest. She is in hospital in stable condition.
Police said the gun was legally purchased by the child’s mother. It’s unclear how he gained access to the weapon.
A spokesperson for the Newport News Police Department told the Associated Press that they were not told about the tip before the shooting.
Parker told parents Thursday that the school district has been in contact with officials at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, where a shooting last May left 19 children and two teachers dead.
In the last year and a half, there have been three shooting incidents in Newport News Public Schools, according to the Washington Post. Parker said school officials are now considering implementing new security measures like installing permanent metal detectors and requiring students to wear clear plastic backpacks.
