NO CHARGES FOR BOY, 6, WHO SHOT TEACHER

The 6-year-old who shot and injured his first-grade teacher at an elementary school in Virginia in January will not be charged, but a prosecutor said that he was still deciding whether others could face criminal charges.

The boy shot the 25-yearold teacher once with a handgun in a classroom at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News on Jan. 6, leaving her with “lifethreatening” injuries and renewing calls for restrictions to keep guns out of the hands of young people.

The Commonwealth attorney, Howard E. Gwynn, told NBC News on Wednesday that a child that young would not understand the legal system. The “prospect that a 6-year-old can stand trial is problematic,” he said.

He did not respond to repeated calls and an email requesting comment on Thursday.

In a statement released by the Newport News Police Department on Thursday, Gwynn said he had received the results of the investigation several weeks ago, including three binders and hours of police body camera footage.

“In spite of the national attention that this incomprehensible act has brought to our city, our objective is the same as it has always been — to be thorough, to be objective and to apply the law to the facts fairly and impartially,” he said. “And after that analysis is done, our objective is to charge any person with any crimes that we believe we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt.”

The teacher, Abigail Zwerner, was in the middle of a routine lesson in her firstgrade classroom when, police said, the boy pulled out the gun, aimed it at her and fired. A single bullet passed through her hand and struck her chest.