Lawyer: Warnings Boy Had Gun Ignored Before He Shot Teacher

Lawyer: Warnings Boy Had Gun Ignored Before He Shot Teacher
Police tape hangs from a sign post outside Richneck Elementary School following a shooting in Newport News, Virginia, on Jan. 7, 2023. Jay Paul/Getty Images
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NEWPORT NEWS, Va.—Concerned staff warned administrators at a Virginia elementary school three times that a 6-year-old boy had a gun and was threatening other students in the hours before he shot and wounded a teacher, but the administration “was paralyzed by apathy” and didn’t call police, remove the boy from class, or lock down the school, the wounded teacher’s lawyer said Wednesday.

Later in the day, the school board voted to fire school district superintendent George Parker III as part of a separation agreement that will pay Parker a little over $502,000 in severance—two years of his current base salary of $251,000. Parker has been sharply criticized by parents and teachers since the Jan. 6 shooting.