this post was submitted on 09 Aug 2023
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The six-year-old student who shot his teacher in the US earlier this year, boasted about the incident saying "I shot [her] dead", unsealed court documents show.

While being restrained after the shooting at a Virginia school, the boy is said to have admitted "I did it", adding "I got my mom's gun last night".

His teacher, Abigail "Abby" Zwerner - who survived - filed a $40m (£31.4m) lawsuit earlier this year.

The boy has not been charged.

The boy's mother, however, Deja Taylor, has been charged with felony child neglect and misdemeanour recklessly leaving a loaded firearm as to endanger a child.

In Ms Zwerner's lawsuit, filed in April, she accuses school officials of gross negligence for ignoring warning signs and argues the defendants knew the child "had a history of random violence

The documents also mention another incident with the same student while he was in kindergarten. A retired teacher told police he started "choking her to the point she could not breathe".

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[–] kn0wmad1c@programming.dev 168 points 1 year ago (4 children)

This boy choked someone and shot someone else before turning 7. Maybe a psychiatric hospital should be his home.

[–] Kolrami@lemmy.world 94 points 1 year ago

A lot of focus is being justifiably placed on the mom, but the kid's actions very closely mirror allegations against his father, Malik Ellison.

The [father's girlfriend] said she backed away to create space, but Ellison followed her, pushed her onto the bed, put his hand around her neck, and threatened to kill her, according to court records.

That attack wasn’t the only time the woman claimed Ellison was violent toward her, court records show. The woman called Newport News police again on Sept. 21, 2021 and told investigators that Ellison held a gun to her head and threatened to kill her, according to court records.

https://www.wavy.com/news/investigative/court-docs-father-of-richneck-shooter-assaulted-two-women-including-boys-mother/

[–] Asafum@feddit.nl 54 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Fucking seriously... This kid has future murderer written all over him... I get that your brain isn't fully developed yet, but I don't think kids like him go from "literally a psychopath" to "normal adult"

A normal kid might do something crazy in a fit of rage or emotion, but then regret what they did when they see the fallout from it. This little psycho boasted about it...

[–] howlongisleft@lemmy.world 37 points 1 year ago (8 children)

but I don't think kids like him go from "literally a psychopath" to "normal adult"

Not with that attitude they don't. Do you really think a 6 year old is beyond help?
They need to be removed from the parents, given proper psychiatric help and support, and placed with a loving family that can help them manage whatever issues they have.
I have a feeling that won't happen though and part of the reason for this is because people believe that small children cannot be helped.

[–] reverendsteveii@lemm.ee 31 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Do you really think a 6 year old is beyond help?

The real question here is "are you willing to bet someone's life on it?"

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[–] MrSpArkle@lemmy.ca 21 points 1 year ago (5 children)

There are 6 year olds that are psychopaths and this is likely one of them.

The worst part is treatment is not a guarantee they can be integrated into society.

It’s tragic for everyone involved but it is true, some people are just missing certain wiring, and being placed in a “loving home” can just mean more bodies and a confused 6 year old not understanding why it’s bad that they killed their parents because they got sent to timeout.

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[–] Kolrami@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

He's in a new school and being raised by his grandparents.

For all intents and purposes, I believe the system believed that Mary Bell could have been helped and her case seemed incredibly sinister.

At the age of ten, she killed two toddlers with her bare hands, but one big difference is she actually served time in prison.

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[–] MonkRome@lemmy.world 146 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (13 children)

It's amazing to me how focused these comments are on the child being "evil" and not the environment that created this situation. A child isn't born believing that shooting their teacher is a viable solution to their problems. At 6 years old you're barely functional. For this to happen they had to exist in a profoundly fucked up environment with no moral compass and access to a lot of information, presented without good context, far above their age. Everyone responsible for raising this kid should be held responsible.

This kid needs years of therapy and support and a loving caregiver. Before the age of 10 children are incredibly impressionable and still undergoing very basic core development, until the age of 25 people are still in development to some level. There are many years ahead where this child can be saved from themselves. There is no reason to call a 6 year old irredeemable.

[–] BigDawg@lemmy.world 37 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It can be both sadly. Some kids are born not right. But will usually be ok with good and professional follow up and loving parents. But there are some kids born without the ability to emphasize with others and that never will get the help they need. And they become terrifying in their teens.

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[–] BrianTheeBiscuiteer@lemmy.world 14 points 1 year ago

After the kindergarten incident the child should've been given a psychiatric evaluation. It is possible he's got a "screw loose" but in the vast majority of cases like this you'll find there's violence in the home. The foster system sucks ass, but in this case rolling the dice probably would've led to a better outcome than leaving him in that home.

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[–] MonsiuerPatEBrown@reddthat.com 130 points 1 year ago (6 children)

This is why some US Americans want armed teachers ?

To shoot back at 6 year olds ?

[–] PoliticalAgitator@lemm.ee 55 points 1 year ago (5 children)

They say it's so teachers can protect themselves and their students (from the consequences of failed gun laws) but really, it's just because they have to say something -- and it can't be the truth.

At a civilian level, most of them simply don't care. They're confident it will never be their kids and they consider a stranger's children less important than their own easy access to firearms.

But they can't say that, so they make flowery comments about freedom, defending their family and how they're the ones keeping America out of the hands of tyrants, even though they staunchly support tyrants and wouldn't even wear a mask to protect other people, let alone fight and die for them.

On the corporate and political level, there's good money and easy votes in guns. It's no different to tobacco, asbestos and everything else they fought to profit from even as it killed people.

But they can't say that either. So instead, they coordinate what today's scapegoat is going to be. Computer games? Too many doors? Timid police? Whatever keeps the money flowing.

The important part for all of them is demanding other solutions are tried before gun control. They know they won't work, but it will buy them more time and the more time they waste, the better.

That's why their current solution is "free, universal healthcare for everybody in America, including 5 year olds and people who don't want treatment, done to a standard far beyond even the most cutting edge of medicine, completely and permanently curing people in less time than it takes to buy a gun".

Which they then block anyway, because it's important their conditions for supporting gun control are never met.

[–] BeMoreCareful@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

there's good money and easy votes in guns.

Despite it's current reputation, it's easy to forget how powerful the NRA was in the eighties and nineties. Zero republicans could get on a ballet without the NRA rating seal of approval.

There's a massive amount of inertia in American politics.

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[–] Tehgingey@lemmy.ca 17 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Bringing whole new level to "Kindergarten Cop" I don't think Arny could have predicted this

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[–] Pratai@lemmy.ca 12 points 1 year ago

They want armed teachers because the alternative is gun control. They don’t want gun control, so apparently throwing fire on a burning house is now the way to put out fires.

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[–] AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.world 104 points 1 year ago

The intentional shooting itself is all I need to know that the little kid has really significant issues that need to be treated. The fact that he bragged about it isn't news; he's six, I'm not expecting him to act maturely about anything.

[–] prole@sh.itjust.works 45 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Yo, how strong does a kindergartner need to be to be able to choke out a fully grown adult? Wild.

[–] HerrLewakaas@feddit.de 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)

How deranged does a kid need to be for the system to keep a very close eye on them? Seriously that kid is probably a psychopath who's gonna kill more people if nobody prevents him from doing so

[–] SCB@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

That or he's badly abused/neglected, and is in need of very serious therapy.

My wife's hometown of like 300 people had a school shooter, and the kid was one of the worst abuse cases I'd ever heard. Tortured, made to live in a closet and eat dog food, shit like that. Ended up shooting the principal while wrestling for the gun (his only victim) and the principal was like the only guy in town who brought the kid food and clothes and stuff (which his parents then "punished" him for receiving). Just an awful situation.

In some ways, this kid acting out so early may save his and others lives, fucked up as it is.

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[–] gabe@literature.cafe 37 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] Llewellyn@lemmy.ml 20 points 1 year ago (1 children)
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[–] gmtom@lemmy.world 36 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Oh look another shooting that basic safe storage laws could have prevented, without even restricting firearm ownership, but ammosexuals still resist them.

[–] Turkey_Titty_city@kbin.social 19 points 1 year ago

proper gun ownership turns you gay tho

[–] ArmokGoB@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago (3 children)

The boy's mother, however, Deja Taylor, has been charged with felony child neglect and misdemeanour recklessly leaving a loaded firearm as to endanger a child.

It looks like she violated the storage laws.

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[–] objectionist@lemmy.world 29 points 1 year ago (1 children)
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[–] ShellMonkey@lemmy.socdojo.com 26 points 1 year ago (8 children)

So two observations, first how is leaving a loaded gun in reach of a 6 year old not more than a misdemeanor? I don't even let my kid near a slingshot or pelet gun unsupervised much less anything lethal.

Second, "choking her to the point she could not breath"? How big is this kid that this is even possible? That's no small feat for a full grown adult if you're talking bare handed much less a young child.

That the kid at that age even thought that was a thing to do says all too much about the influences on them. We need another Mr. Rogers here...

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[–] blazera@kbin.social 25 points 1 year ago (1 children)

See yall next school shooting

[–] remotedev@lemmy.ca 9 points 1 year ago

Do I have time to eat before?

[–] Moobythegoldensock@lemm.ee 22 points 1 year ago

We need to arm all the teachers. And all the students. And all the guns. And all the bullets: they can carry little baby guns with more guns in them.

Only after every atom in the universe is a gun will we ever be safe from guns.

[–] BeautifulPain@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

Screw the kids parents

This sounds like a villain origin story.

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