‘PROBLEMATIC’

6-Year-Old Who Shot Teacher Won’t Face Charges, Prosecutor Says

The Virginia city prosecutor said that a 6-year-old was unlikely to possess “the requisite criminal intent to be guilty of an aggravated assault.”

The young boy who shot his first grade teacher in January as she tried to confiscate the weapon from him will not be charged with a crime, a Virginia city prosecutor told NBC News on Wednesday. Howard Gwynn, the Newport News Commonwealth’s attorney, explained that the “prospect that a 6-year-old can stand trial is problematic,” elaborating to local outlet 13News Now that “the general [expert] consensus is that a 6-year-old cannot form the requisite criminal intent to be guilty of an aggravated assault.” Gwynn did not confirm whether his office had reached a decision whether to seek charges against any adults associated with the case. The Jan. 6 shooting of teacher Abigail Zwerner at Richneck Elementary School led to national headlines and pressure that resulted in the removal of the school’s superintendent, the reassignment of its principal, and the resignation of its vice principal.