Mother of six year old boy who shot teacher charged in US

The mother of a six year old boy who shot his teacher in a Virginia primary school has been charged.

The 6-year-old student shot his teacher during an altercation in a classroom at Richneck Elementary School in January.

Deja Taylor, 25, has been indicted by a grand jury with a felony child neglect charge and a misdemeanour charge.

It was previously revealed by police that she was the owner of the gun which was used by her son to shoot his teacher, Abigail Zwerner during a lesson in the classroom. Ms Zwerner, 25, was seriously hurt in the shooting, sustaining injuries to her hand and chest, but survived.

She has since filed a $40 million law suit over the shooting, claiming that school officials ignored warnings that the boy had a gun in his backpack. It is understood the boy’s backpack was searched on the day of the attack, following warnings that a pupil had a weapon.

Prosecutors have previously said that the child was unlikely to be charged in connection to the shooting due to his age. The boy’s family claimed after the attack that the gun was secured.

Ms Taylor’s arrest comes after a police investigation into the incident, which happened on 6 January at Richneck Elementary School in the city of Newport News.

"Every criminal case is unique in its facts, and these facts support these charges, but our investigation into the shooting continues," said Howard Gwynn, the attorney for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Authorities said other charges could be announced as a special grand jury looked into security issues at the school.

"If the Special Grand Jury determines that additional persons are criminally responsible under the law, it can return additional indictments," Mr Gwynn said.