The former director of the Virginia school where the boy shot his first grade teacher was not told the child had a gun, her lawyer said.

The former principal of an elementary school in Virginia, where a 6-year-old student shot and killed his first grade teacher last month, was not warned that the child might have had a gun on campus that day, her lawyer said Thursday.

Briana Foster Newton, a former principal at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, was not given warnings by other administrators that a child could bring a weapon onto campus, her attorney, Pamela J. Branch, said during a brief press conference on Thursday.

“It continues to be reported that unidentified school administrators knew that a 6-year-old student was carrying a gun at school on January 6 and simply did not act. It is assumed that Mrs. Newton was one of these administrators. However, this is far from the truth,” Branch said. “The fact of the matter is that those who knew that the student might have had a weapon on the premises that day did not report it to Mrs. Newton at all.”

Branch continued, “I repeat: Mrs. Newton, unfortunately, was not one of the administrators briefed at the school that day who had this vital information.”

Abigail Zwerner, a 25-year-old teacher, was shot in the arm and chest after a student shot her in front of a class of about 20 students, officials said.

Zwerner survived and is recovering.

On January 25, Zwerner’s attorney, Diane Toscano, came forward with a series of allegations that the Richneck administration ignored numerous pre-shooting warnings that could have prevented the shooting.

According to Toscano, on the day of the shooting, three teachers went to the school administration, saying that a 6-year-old student on campus had a gun. They also complained about his behavior.

According to Toscano, Zwerner first went to the school administrator between 11:15 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. and said the student had threatened to beat up a classmate. The second teacher approached the school administrator at 12:30 pm and said she took over the search of the boy’s backpack.

“The administrator downplayed the teacher’s report and the possibility of having weapons,” Toscano said.

A third teacher told the administrator just before 1:00 p.m., about an hour before the shooting, that the boy showed a classmate the gun at recess and “threatened to shoot him if he told anyone,” Toscano said.

According to Toscano, a fourth officer asked the administrator for permission to search the boy, but was refused.

The administrator told the employee to “wait the situation because the school day is almost over,” Toscano said.

Toscano said “the administration should not be disturbed” and that the tragedy could have been “completely prevented” if the administration had “taken action when it became aware of the imminent danger”, adding, “But instead they took no action and Abby was shot.” .

NBC News also reported that prior to the shooting, Zwerner wrote to a loved one saying the boy was armed and that the school authorities were inactive.

Children returned to classes on Monday the first time since shooting without Newton as director. County spokeswoman Michelle Price said Deputy Principal Ebony Parker quit the school.

With the departure of the principal and his deputy, District Enhanced Education Superintendent Karen Lynch, an experienced elementary school principal, was selected as a special assignment administrator in Richneck, coordinating the return of students to school, Price said.

Price said Newton still works for the school district. Branch said Newton had not been reassigned to a county position as of Thursday.

Changes have been made to Richneck to improve security. The changes included the placement of two permanent school division security officers at the school, the installation of two metal detector systems, the installation of doors in classrooms where none were present, and, according to the district, all students were given transparent backpacks.

Former superintendent of the school system, George Parker III, told the virtual town hall last month that the boy was late for school and that his bag of books had been checked. when he came to the office to sign, said the parents who were watching the meeting.

“At least one administrator has been alerted to a possible weapon,” Parker said in a video viewed by NBC News.

Parker was fired from his job on January 25 by a 5-1 vote at a school board meeting. His dismissal became official on Wednesday, and he was replaced by an interim superintendent.

No charges were announced in the case, although Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew stated that the boy’s mother legally purchased the 9mm Taurus firearm that was fired. According to Drew, it turns out if the gun was kept in the house.

This is stated in the statement of the family of the boy who shot Zwerner. last month that the gun was “saved” when he took it from their home, but did not elaborate.

Our family has always been committed to responsible gun ownership and keeping firearms out of the reach of children. The firearms our son had access to were protected,” said a statement released by James Ellenson, the family’s attorney.

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