A teacher was injured in a shooting Jan. 6, 2023, at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, according to police and school officials. BILLY SCHUERMAN/THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT/TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE VIA GETTY IMAGES

A 6-year-old student shot a teacher during an altercation at a Virginia elementary school on Friday, police said. No students were injured in the incident at Richneck Elementary School, Newport News police said in a statement.

"This was not an accidental shooting," Police Chief Steve Drew told reporters during an evening press conference.

The chief said the teacher, a woman in her 30s, suffered what he described as a life-threatening gunshot wound and was taken to a hospital.

The boy was taken into custody, the chief said. No one else was involved in the incident, he said.

"We have been in contact with our commonwealth attorney and some other entities to help us best get services to this young man," Drew said.

The chief said a handgun was used in the altercation and he wanted to know where it came from.

The shooting was isolated to a classroom at the school, Drew said.

"This was not a situation where we had a student, or any other individuals, going up and down the halls actively firing in a long shooting incident," Drew said.

Mayor Phillip Jones said the incident "hurts my heart."

"It's a dark day for Newport News," Jones said. "We're going to learn from this, and we're going to come back stronger."

Schools Superintendent George Parker III said the incident happened in a first-grade classroom.

"Today our students got a lesson in gun violence," Parker said.

"This is terrible," he added. "This is something that should never occur, and I think we're all in shock and we all understand that we have a lot of work to do as a community to make sure things like this don't occur."

Metal detectors are used randomly throughout the school district, Parker said. Classes won't be held at the school Monday.

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