Officials at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia downplayed teachers’ warnings about the 6-year-old’s behavior before he shot a teacher earlier the month.
Newport News police say the boy brought the gun to school in his backpack on Jan. 6 and fired one round hitting his teacher Abby Zwerner, 25, in the chest. She was released from the hospital on Thursday.
The gun was legally purchased by the boy’s mother and at least one school official was told that the child had the gun, but no weapon was found during a search of the boy’s backpack.
Text messages obtained by the Washington Post shows staffers telling Newport News Superintendent George Parker that Zwerner had raised concerns about the boy’s behavior and sought assistance several times during the school year, including hours before the incident.
“She had asked for help,” one staffer wrote, referring to Zwerner. “Several times,” another teacher wrote. “Two hours prior” said another.
One teacher who asked not to be identified detailed one instance in which the boy wrote a note telling a teacher he hated her and wanted to light her on fire and watch her die. The teacher brought the note to school administrators and was told to drop the matter.
The boy also threw furniture and other items in class, forcing students to hide beneath their desks. On a separate occasion, he barricaded the door to a classroom trapping a teacher and students inside.
The boy’s family said in a statement on Thursday that he suffers from an “acute disability” and was under a care plan at the school which involved a family member accompanying him to classes. In the week of the incident no one was there with him, the family said.
In other messages, teachers say the lead special education teacher was frustrated because she has a high caseload. They were concern about the school being unable to care for the boy properly because of strained resources.
One teacher wrote that the boy was not receiving the educational services he needed and that it was difficult to get help with him during outbursts. The teacher said sometimes he was seen wandering the school unsupervised.
Newport News Education Association president, James Graves, said they are investigating safety concerns raised by the teachers in the wake of the shooting.
“We want to know what happened so we can protect our members,” Graves told the Post. “They believe and they know the administration should take their concerns more seriously than they did. This could have been prevented.”
