Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew said Tuesday that the department has completed its investigation into the shooting of a Richneck Elementary School teacher by her 6-year-old student.
The detectives' findings were sent to the city's Commonwealth's Attorney's office this morning, Drew said during a "Chat with the Chief" segment on Facebook.
The CA's office will determine whether or not to file charges in the case.
The update comes less than a week after a different incident involving a 6-year-old in Norfolk. The child brought a handgun to Little Creek Elementary School on Thursday. It was immediately confiscated by school administrators and handed over to police.
The 6-year-old's mother, 35-year-old Letty Lopez, has been charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor and allowing a child to have access to a loaded firearm.
Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney Ramin Fatehi did not immediately respond Tuesday to WHRO's request for comment about the Little Creek case.
On Facebook Live, Chief Drew acknowledged the Richneck investigation has been long and faced challenges, such as working through a psychologist to interview witnesses who are children.
"It's not something we wanted to rush through," he said. "I totally understand people would like to have a case open and shut. That's just not what we have here. ... There's a lot of things in the balance."
The Richneck shooting happened around 2 p.m. on Jan. 6. Police have said the child drew a 9-millimeter handgun while 25-year-old Abby Zwerner was teaching a first-grade class and shot her in the hand and upper chest.
Controversy has engulfed Newport News Public Schools ever since.
An attorney for Zwerner sent a notice of her intent to sue the system last month, claiming that the student shooter had acted violently in the year leading up to the shooting, and that were administrators were warned several times on the day of the shooting that he was armed.
Richneck's assistant principal resigned soon afterward. The School Board then fired Superintendent George Parker.
Last week, a Texas nonprofit that supports schools after campus shootings announced that it’s canceling a grant for Richneck due to administrators' "abject failure" surrounding the incident.
The Uvalde Foundation for Kids plans to send the money directly to Zwerner instead, and created a "Hero Grant" in her name.
On Monday, parents of Richneck students were notified of a potential safety concern after a fifth-grader threatened to shoot up a class in text messages with other children, The Virginian-Pilot reported. The threat came just weeks after students returned to school.
