A year after she was shot by her 6-year-old student in a Virginia classroom, former teacher Abby Zwerner said she still worries about the other children who saw it happen, and wonders how they’re faring.

Wounded by a bullet that struck her hand and chest and punctured a lung, Zwerner rushed the other first-graders into the hallway before she collapsed in the elementary school’s office.

“I hope that they are enjoying school, enjoying their second-grade year,” Zwerner, 26, told The Virginian-Pilot newspaper. “I hope that they’re still kind to their classmates, kind to teachers. I hope that they still have happiness, and that their happiness wasn’t completely stripped away.”

  • Agent_Engelbert@linux.community
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    11 months ago

    Back in the day, when the government of Japan banned samurai schools, and prohibited so many dangerous weapons, the samurai got angry and revolted.

    Those samurais, on the other hand, who worked closely with the government or had willingness (or had leverage by working with them), created their own “spiritual” schools, teaching aikido, kendo, and practices of spirituality, peace, and finding one’s own path in life.

    But now Japan thrives ever so lively. And yet, the government now carries all that stigma after the ages of samurais had passed; and for good reasons, because they do oppress people and judge them unjustly in courts.

    Perhaps the sword may have not been the answer, but it is certainly not the solution either to dismantle all, including the good and the bad, for there are the protectors of peace- the sword carriers, and those whom carry weapons and guns are no different.

    And there are those who are irresponsible and neglectful, and would drive opposition the opportunity for justifying radical changes. Then that radical change would be justified. Including the dismantling of weapons and their schools of thought.

    So is the case that had led to this women’s unfortunate circumstance.

    However, I will still carry the sword to death with me.

    • lad@programming.dev
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      11 months ago

      [Researcher David Riedman, founder of a database that tracks U.S. school shootings dating back to 1970] said Saturday that he’s only aware of three other shootings caused by 6-year-old students in the time period he’s studied. Those include the fatal shooting of a fellow student in 2000 in Michigan and shootings that injured other students in 2011 in Texas and 2021 in Mississippi

      Maybe not, at least if we don’t know the exact age at least to the month

  • JakenVeina@lemm.ee
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    11 months ago

    Anyone else feel like the article title was rather clickbait-y?

    former teacher Abby Zwerner said she still worries about the other children who saw it happen, and wonders how they’re faring.

    • aaaantoine@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      It did at least draw me to the comments section to see the chatter, but no, I pretty much expected what you quoted.

      I guess it’s open enough to interpretation to be misleading. Do readers think she was worried the kid was going after them next? Do they think she was worried one more of the students would come after her?

  • WashedOver@lemmy.ca
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    11 months ago

    If only all the other kids were armed too we could have avoided the need for thoughts and prayers - NRA