PIC: Teacher, 25, left critically-ill after she was deliberately shot in chest ... trends now
A first-grade teacher who cops say was deliberately shot in the chest by a six year-old boy is a 25 year-old heroine who screamed for her students to run to safety.
Abby Zwerner is the educator who was struck by the bullet in her classroom at Richneck Elemtary School in Newport News, Virginia, around 2pm Friday, DailyMail.com can reveal.
She was rushed to hospital for surgery after. Officials said earlier this evening that Zwerner was critically-ill, and no further updates have been shared.
Police said the boy, who has not been publicly identified, got into an 'altercation' with Zwerner, of Williamsburg, before shooting her.
Parent, Sebastian Gonzalez-Hernandez confirmed Zwerner's identity to DailyMail.com and also detailed her selflessness in the immediate aftermath.
He said 'she screamed at her kids to run away' after the student fired a single bullet.
'Even after she'd been shot she was thinking about the safety of her children,' Gonzalez-Hernandez said.
Abby Zwerner, 25, of Williamsburg, Virginia, was shot in the chest at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News around 2pm on Friday
Parent, Sebastian Gonzalez-Hernandez, who confirmed Zwerner's identity to DailyMail.com, said 'she screamed at her kids to run away' after the student fired a single bullet
His own six-year-old, who he did not wish to name, was in the classroom when the gunshot went off.
'My son didn't see what happened, he heard the gunshot go off, and turned around to see Miss Zwerner on the floor,' he told DailyMail.com on Friday.
'She is an amazing teacher, so dedicated. My son absolutely loves her, and we're devastated about what's happened. We are all thinking of her and hoping that she gets better soon.'
Zwerner was taken to Riverside Regional Medical Center in critical condition and remains there. She was the only one injured.
Police confirmed a six-year-old student had been the one to fire the terrifying shot, but authorities are still looking into how the first-grader managed to get a gun.
'This was not an accidental shooting,' Newport News Chief Steve Drew said at a press conference on Friday. 'It was in a classroom, an altercation took place there. We did not have a situation where someone was going around the school shooting. We had a situation in one particular location where a gunshot was fired.'
A grandmother of one of the students told DailyMail.com that a student brought 'shiny gold bullets' to school last week, but it is unclear if it is the same child who was taken into custody today.
Gonzalez-Hernandez said the 25-year-old is an 'amazing teacher, so dedicated'
Zwerner was taken to Riverside Regional Medical Center in critical condition and remains there. She was the only one injured
The shooting occurred in the classroom and was an isolated incident. Officers are still trying to determine how the student managed to get the weapon
The school (pictured) would be closed on Monday to work on the 'mental health of our staff and students'
The grandmother, who asked not to be named, said
