Virginia school reopens after teacher shot by student

Jan. 30 (UPI) -- Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Va., is reopening Monday for the first time since a 6-year-old student there brought a gun to school and shot a teacher inside a classroom.

Students are being issued clear book bags and all visitors are being streamlined through a single entrance, while some items are also being subjected to a metal detector, Newport News Public Schools said in a statement.

Parents choosing to walk their children to the classroom will also be searched.

Therapists and social workers were on-site Monday, the school board confirmed. The classroom where the shooting took place will remain locked.

This comes less than a week after the board voted to cut ties with Superintendent George Parker III. Hours before the 5-1 vote, a lawyer for injured teacher Abby Zwerner told reporters the school administration was warned repeatedly the day of the shooting that a student was carrying a gun.

Principal Briana Foster Newton has been reassigned to another role within the district, the school board confirmed.

Zwerner, 25, was critically wounded in front of a class of 20 students after she was hit by a single shot fired from a 9mm Taurus handgun on Jan. 6. The 6-year-old boy who allegedly shot her hasn't been named. Through a lawyer, his parents have said the gun was stored securely in the family home.

At a news conference last week, lawyer Diane Toscano called the shooting "entirely preventable."

Local police confirmed no school resource officer had been assigned to the school Monday. However, the board assigned a pair of school division security officers to school in addition to the new metal detectors.

Doors have been installed in all classrooms that were previously lacking them.