(NEWPORT NEWS, Va.) — The family of the 6-year-old boy accused of shooting a teacher at his Virginia elementary school is speaking out for the first time.

The family said the “firearm our son accessed was secured.”

The 6-year-old, who has not been named publicly, allegedly took a handgun from his home on Jan. 6, put it in his backpack and brought it to Richneck Elementary School in Newport News. He allegedly shot and wounded 25-year-old teacher Abigail Zwerner in a first grade classroom in an “intentional” act, according to police.

Police said the 9 mm Taurus pistol was legally purchased by the boy’s mother.

The 6-year-old’s family released a statement through a spokesperson, saying, “Our family has always been committed to responsible gun ownership and keeping firearms out of the reach of children.”

“We have been cooperating with local and federal law enforcement to understand how this could have happened,” the family said.

No one has been charged and the investigation is ongoing. Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew said Wednesday that interviews with children who were in the classroom should be completed next week. He did not give an exact date on when the investigation would be completed or if charges would be filed.

About 16 to 20 students were in the room at the time of the shooting and none of them were physically injured, officials said. After Zwerner was shot, she ushered all of her students out of the classroom, according to police. Drew call her “a hero” who “saved lives.”

The 6-year-old’s family said, “Our heart goes out to our son’s teacher and we pray for her healing in the aftermath of such an unimaginable tragedy as she selflessly served our son and the children in the school. She has worked diligently and compassionately to support our family as we sought the best education and learning environment for our son.”

Their son “suffers from an acute disability and was under a care plan at the school that included his mother or father attending school with him and accompanying him to class every day,” the family said. “The week of the shooting was the first week when we were not in class with him. We will regret our absence on this day for the rest of our lives.”

The family said the 6-year-old is receiving treatment at a hospital.

“We continue to pray for his teacher’s full recovery, and for her loved ones who are undoubtedly upset and concerned,” the family said. “At the same time, we love our son and are asking that you please include him and our family in your prayers.”

ABC News’ Beatrice Peterson and Caroline Guthrie contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(BLOOMINGTON, Ind.) — A white woman charged with stabbing an Asian Indiana University student seven times in the head on a public bus in Bloomington, Indiana, is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.

The suspect, Billie R. Davis, who has been jailed on $100,000 bail since her arrest, has a bond hearing scheduled at the Monroe County Circuit Court in Bloomington, according to court records. Police have described the attack as unprovoked and racially motivated.

Davis, who also goes by the name Billie R. Pottorff, has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder, aggravated battery and battery by means of a deadly weapon.

She was charged after allegedly confessing to repeatedly stabbing the 18-year-old student with a folding knife in front of passengers on a Bloomington Transit bus on Jan. 11, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in the case.

Davis purportedly told investigators she targeted the student because she assumed her to be Chinese and “made statements that race was a factor in why she stabbed her,” according to the affidavit.

“Davis made a statement that it would be one less person to blow up our county,” the affidavit reads.

Video surveillance footage from the bus reviewed by investigators shows Davis allegedly coming up behind the victim and appears “to turn for a better position while clutching the knife” before stabbing the student without warning.

“Davis then folds the knife, puts it back in her pocket, and returns to her seated position on the bus. Davis doesn’t appear to acknowledge (the victim) after stabbing her or have any other contact,” the affidavit alleges.

Prior to the attack, the suspect and the victim had “no prior confrontation or negative interactions,” the affidavit said. The student, according to police, told investigators she was standing and waiting for the bus doors to open when she was assaulted.

Davis, according to the affidavit, exited the bus at the next stop. She was taken into custody after a passenger who witnessed the assault followed her on foot and reported her location to police, authorities said.

ABC News’ Sabina Ghebremedhin and Rebecca Gelpi contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(FLINT, Mich.) — While weekly bottled water donations have ended for citizens of Flint, Michigan, according to city officials, the water crisis there is ongoing.

Health officials are urging residents to continue to use faucet filters certified to remove lead until the residential lead service line replacement is completed.

The residential lead service line replacement was initially set to be finished in 2019, according to a settlement agreement with the city. That deadline was eventually pushed back to the fall of 2022 and has most recently been set for completion in August 2023, according to city officials.

The city is offering free water filter units, replacement cartridges and water testing kits for Flint residents for pick up at City Hall or for delivery by the Office of Public Health.

The state is required to fund water filters for one year following the completion of the lead service line replacement project, which has been ongoing since 2016.

“More than 95% of lead pipes in Flint have been replaced, and we will continue the work until the job is done,” Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley said in a recent statement on the water filters. “I will work with anyone who is committed to making that happen. I ask those remaining homeowners to give our crews right of entry so that we can fix this once and for all.”

The city received an extension and funding from the Environmental Protection Agency for the remaining 5% of lead pipe replacements and excavations.

In 2014, Michigan switched the city’s water supply to the Flint River.

The water source was switched back to Lake Huron in 2015 but according to the Michigan Department of Attorney General, “the damage had been done.”

Highly toxic levels of lead were discovered in the water and outbreaks of Legionnaires’ disease coincided with the switch, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, prompting a state of emergency declaration in 2016.

“The switch was made without the required anti-corrosive chemicals being added,” read a statement from the city announcing the lead pipe replacement project in 2016. “The corrosive water removed a protective coating on the inside of the pipes, allowing lead to leach into the water going to homes and businesses,” the statement continued.

In their latest announcement, city officials said that since July 2016, the city’s water system has met state and federal standards for lead in drinking water for 12 consecutive monitoring periods, and “bottled water has no health benefits over filtered tap water.”

The city also said that common point-of-use faucet filters like Brita and Pur effectively remove lead when installed and maintained properly.

Since 2018, 100,000 water bottles had been delivered weekly by BlueTriton Brands, Inc — a Connecticut-based beverage company — serving approximately 3,000 people per week, according to Flint officials.

Lack of trust in the city’s tap water has been an ongoing struggle for residents.

“There are huge victories that have [been] accomplished, but there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done,” Flint resident LeeAnne Walters told ABC News in 2021.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.