The 6-year-old child who shot and injured his teacher in Virginia this month presented warning signs earlier that day, and teachers reported that he may have had a gun.
Still, school administrators were "paralyzed by apathy" and did nothing, the teacher's attorney claimed on Wednesday.
Abigail Zwerner, 25, filed a notice of intent to sue the Newport News School District due to the district ignoring numerous threats received on January 6.
"On that day, over the course of a few hours, three different times — three times — school administration was warned by concerned teachers and employees that the boy had a gun on him at the school and was threatening people. But the administration could not be bothered," Attorney Diane Toscano said at a news conference, per the Associated Press.
That morning, the boy threatened to beat up another child and Zwerner went to the administrator, but no action was taken.
A different teacher reported to the administrators that she had examined the boy's backpack after learning he had a gun, although she could not find any weapon.
"The administrator downplayed the report from the teacher and the possibility of a gun, saying — and I quote — 'Well, he has little pockets,'" Toscano said.
Administrators were also informed by another instructor that the boy had threatened to shoot a different child if he told that he saw the gun, but again, no action was taken.
Toscano says a fourth employee who heard the boy might be armed asked administrators for permission to search the 6 year-old but "was told to wait the situation out because the school day was almost over." An hour later, Zwerner was shot.
District spokesperson Michelle Price told the AP she could not comment due to the school's ongoing investigation.
Police have repeatedly said the shooting was "intentional." There was no fight or physical struggle before the boy allegedly opened fire in his first grade classroom as Zwerner was providing instruction, police said.
Police confirmed that the boy took the 9mm gun from his home and brought it to school in his backpack. The boy's mother legally purchased the weapon, although authorities haven't disclosed how the child got access to the gun.
It's not clear if the boy's parents will face charges. Though Virginia has no law that requires unattended guns to be stored or locked in a particular way, gun owners can be prosecuted under a state law that prohibits anyone from recklessly leaving a loaded, unsecured gun in a manner that endangers the life or limb of children under 14, the AP reported. The misdemeanor is punishable by a maximum jail sentence of one year and a maximum fine of $2,500.
The family's attorney, James Ellenson, told the AP that the gun was in the mother's closet on a shelf over 6-feet high and had a trigger lock that required a key. The family also said that the boy has an "acute disability" and was usually accompanied in class by his mother or father every day. The week of the shooting was the first when a parent was not in class with him, the family told the AP.
The elementary school has been closed since the shooting but is set to reopen next week.
The boy remains in custody at a medical facility. It's not clear if he will face charges.
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