The 6-year-old boy who shot his teacher in a Newport News, Virginia, elementary school in January isn't going to face criminal charges, the city prosecutor says. Newport News Commonwealth's Attorney Howard Gwynn tells NBC that while it is theoretically possible for a child that age to be charged and tried in Virginia, the "prospect that a 6-year-old can stand trial is problematic" because the child is too young to understand the justice system. Police say the boy deliberately shot teacher Abby Zwerner at Richneck Elementary School. The 25-year-old first-grade teacher was hospitalized for almost two weeks.
Gwynn tells 13 News Now that he spoke to experts around the country, and that the consensus is "a 6-year-old cannot form the requisite criminal intent to be guilty of an aggravated assault." Gwynn says his office will review the full police report before deciding whether to charge other people in the case. "Our objective is not just to do something as quickly as possible," he says. "Once we analyze all the facts, we will charge any person or persons that we believe we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt committed a crime."
Experts say the parents could potentially face charges of neglect or reckless endangerment. The boy's family has said the gun was secured in the home and they don't know how he was able to get hold of it. They have also said he has an "acute disability" and is getting the "treatment he needs" at a medical facility, where he is being temporarily detained under a court order, reports NBC. (More Virginia stories.)
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