Shot primary school teacher speaks for the first time about killing spree by six-year-old

Newport News (Virginia/USA) - At the beginning of January, people around the world were shocked by the news of a six-year-old boy running amok in the US state of Virginia. The boy deliberately shot his teacher, who has now spoken out about the crime.

According to the US newspaper"New York Post", Abigail Zwerner (25) spoke about the shocking incident for the first time yesterday (Tuesday). On the NBC program "Today", she revealed that part of the bullet was still lodged in her chest.

On January 6, one of her own students (6) fired his mother's gun at the young teacher at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News.

"I remember him pointing the gun at me, I remember the look on his face, I remember the gun going off," Zwerner recounted.

"There are things I will never forget. And I'll never forget the look on his face when he pointed it right at me," she added. "It changed me. It changed my life."

Although the bullet entered her chest and caused her lung to collapse, the teacher survived and is at least physically on the road to recovery. This is thanks to the fact that the bullet first passed through the palm of her hand.

Most of the projectile was removed from Zwerner's chest, but a small part is still there.

"I think it will always be there," said the primary school teacher emotionally.

The 25-year-old had undergone further surgery on her left hand, where the bullet pierced the middle bone and damaged her thumb and index finger.

"It's helpful now that [the wounds] have scarred over," she said.

"At first it really shook me up ... seeing an open wound on your body and remembering how you got it is pretty traumatizing," she continued as she recalled "dying" after getting the rest of her students to safety.

In the weeks after the shooting, it became known that Zwerner warned school administrators that the six-year-old - who had a history of violent outbursts and threats - might be carrying a gun.

He probably showed this to another pupil during the break. The school management claimed that they had searched the rucksack after the teacher's warnings, but did not find a firearm.

Abigail Zwerner believes that the school administration should have done more to prevent the incident. She now wants to take legal action against the district administration.

"Several people are responsible for these mistakes," said Zwerner's lawyer Diane Toscano in an interview with "Today".

Some days, the 25-year-old has problems "getting out of bed", but she is trying to "stay positive" after the traumatic incident.

"I'm doing well," she said, "I've gone through a lot of obstacles and challenges."

The public's support is helping her: "I'm just so grateful."