6-year-old shoots teacher at Newport News elementary school: police

WASHINGTON – A 6-year-old boy is in custody and an adult hospitalized after a shooting at an elementary school in Newport News, VA, according to police. 

The Newport News Police Department said the shooting happened at Richneck Elementary School around 2 p.m. on Friday. The school is located about an hour north of Norfolk.

According to investigators, the 6-year-old student shot a teacher during an altercation in a first grade classroom.

“We did not have a situation where someone was going around the school shooting,” Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew said on Friday. “We have a situation in one particular location where a gunshot was fired.”

Drew added that the shooting was not an accident.

The teacher was taken to an area hospital with life-threatening injuries. Police said later Friday afternoon that the teacher’s condition was improving.

The teacher was identified as a woman in her 30s, but police did not release other information about her.

Police said no students were injured during the incident.

Richneck has about 550 students who are in kindergarten through fifth grade, according to the Virginia Department of Education’s website. 

School officials have already said that there will be no classes at the school on Monday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.