NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Three days after a shooting that shook an entire Newport News elementary school and sent one teacher to the hospital, families of students returned Tuesday to pick up belongings left behind.
Sporadically, parents and grandparents walked out of Richneck Elementary School with bookbags, notebooks and jackets in their hands as they walked back to their cars.
Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew told reporters a six-year-old student pulled a gun out in the middle of a lesson and shot his teacher, Abby Zwerner, 25, Friday afternoon.
"It was kind of scary, I guess, to know they were in the middle of whatever they were doing, a normal class day, and had to drop everything that they were doing," Ashley Mark said about her son, Jamel, who is in the second grade. She held tight to his jacket, saying, "It was cold outside and he didn't get to take his coat."
Mark said her seven-year-old hid in a classroom for hours with his teacher as they waited to learn it was okay to come out.
"Luckily, he didn't know what was occurring, but he was very afraid just from hiding for hours," Mark recalled. "He couldn't even explain what happened. It just scared him. He actually said he didn't want to come back to school."
Jamel told her his teacher kept them calm while in the classroom, even pretending to play a game of hide and seek, saying, "I sent his teacher a message. I was so grateful she was able to keep him safe."
The grandfather of a second-grade student and a fifth-grade student, Sylvester Tate, picked up his younger grandson's bookbag from the school. He saw several book bags and other school items in the classroom as if the students never left their lessons.
He said his grandson is still trying to wrap his head around what happened.
"He was a little afraid," Tate said. "He didn't know what was happening until afterwards that someone got hurt, a teacher got hurt. A lot of kids, it was just upsetting, but he was strong and he did okay. We're just worried about him going back to school and what's going on in the society and the world now."
Mark said she will take time to talk to her son this week without overwhelming him, but she is worried about what he'll hear when he returns. Like many mothers, she'll be holding her child close as they spend the rest of the week outside of school together.
"It's like great that everybody was able to support each other through this time because it was stressful," Mark said. "Even though he was safe, just the thought of what was happening is too much."
Some of the parents who spoke with 13News Now outside the school Tuesday said the teachers showed serious acts of bravery. They said Abby Zwerner, who tried to rush her students to safety, likely saved lives on Friday.
Richneck Elementary School classes and activities are canceled for the rest of the week. Students are scheduled to return to school Monday.
School administrators are providing meal services and a 24-hour helpline at 757-788-0635 for anyone in need of counseling.