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Virginia school admins were warned about boy, 6, who shot teacher – did nothing.
China: Coffins sell out as pandemic reaches rural areas for first time.
NATIONAL NEWS
Virginia school admins were warned about boy, 6, who shot teacher – did nothing
Virginia first grade teacher Abigail Zwerner, 25, who was shot by her student, a six-year-old boy, earlier this month plans to sue the Newport News school district, her attorney said yesterday. Diane Toscano, Zwerner’s attorney, told reporters yesterday, “On that day, over the course of a few hours, three different times – three times – school administration was warned by concerned teachers and employees that the boy had a gun on him at the school and was threatening people. But the administration could not be bothered”.
Warnings from 4 different employees
At around 11.15am, Zwerner herself had warned school administrators that the boy had threatened to beat up another child.
Then, Toscano said, at around 12:30pm, a second teacher reported to an administrator that she had searched the boy’s bookbag and found no gun. However, the teacher warned that administrator that she believed the boy had put the gun in his pocket before he went outside for recess. Searching a student’s person would have required the blessing of the administrator. But, Toscano said. “The administrator downplayed the report from the teacher and the possibility of a gun, saying, and I quote, ‘Well, he has little pockets.'”
At 1pm, another student told a third teacher that the boy had shown him the gun and threatened to shoot him.
Following this incident, a fourth employee sought permission to search the boy from the administrators. That employee “was told to wait the situation out because the school day was almost over”, Toscano said. An hour later, the boy shot Zwerner in the chest. Zwerner spent two weeks in the hospital and is now recovering at home.
The district superintendent George Parker III confirmed that administrators had been warned at least once that the boy might have had a weapon. That tip was not passed on to the police when it was received, hours before the shooting. The schoolboard has now voted to dismiss Parker.
An “acute disability”
Last week, an attorney for the boy’s family released a statement revealing that the boy had an “acute disability”. The boy’s care plan “included his mother or father attending school with him and accompanying him to class every day”. The week of the shooting was the first when a parent was not with him. “We will regret our absence on this day for the rest of our lives,” the statement read.
The gun the boy used had been legally purchased by his mother. The family claims the gun was “secured” and they have no idea how he got hold of it.
Messages shared with The Washington Post indicate that the boy’s behavioral problems stretch far back in time before the day of the shooting. Zwerner had reportedly been seeking help dealing with his disturbing behavior throughout the school year.
As on the day of the shooting, administrators were dismissive. One teacher reported that the boy had written her a note saying that he hated her and wanted to light her on fire and watch her die. The teacher brought this up with administrators and was told to drop it.
On another occasion, the boy had thrown furniture and objects around a classroom. He also barricaded the door, and the teacher had to seek help from another teacher, who forced the door open from the outside.
The Newport News school district has had three school shootings since 2021.
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS
China: Coffins sell out as pandemic reaches rural areas for first time
For over 2 years, China’s harsh Zero COVID policy managed to keep the spread of the virus in check. However, weeks-long lockdowns of major cities also wrought economic havoc. After mounting protests, the central government abruptly rescinded the policy. Unfortunately, the government had not used those two years to prepare for what would eventually happen when things opened back up again. Only a few new ICU units were built and the government failed to obtain enough tests and COVID treatment drugs to meet the need. Additionally, while most of China’s population is vaccinated, the elderly are the least vaccinated.
In mid-December, anecdotal reports on Chinese social media suggested that thousands were dying. Crematoria were also overwhelmed with at least 10-day waiting lists. Still, the government’s official confirmed deaths were absurdly low, in the single digits each week. After much ridicule, the government revised its numbers upward to 60,000 deaths in December. The most recent numbers show that at least 13,000 died in less than a week. However many believe this number is still a gross underestimate.
Year of the Rabbit
The Chinese are now celebrating the Lunar New Year. At this time of year, millions of people crisscross the country to visit relatives. Most are traveling from cities where they live and work to rural areas where they’re from. China’s rural population in the west and south of the country are poorer and have little access to services like healthcare. Now that the virus has arrived in these areas for the first time, it is spreading like wildfire and with deadly effect. Unlike the rest of the world, most people in these areas have no immunity to COVID either from vaccination or previous exposure.
The Year of the Rabbit is thought to bring good luck. That hope is not materializing so far. However, people in the funerary industry have been rushed off their feet, building coffins and supplying religious tokens for the dead. This is especially true in rural areas, where one customer joked that funerary workers are making “a small fortune”.
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