A 6-year-old shooter raises difficult questions for the criminal justice system
Although Virginia law does not set a minimum age for criminal prosecution, the traditional principles of criminal justice "don't really apply" when the offender is so young, one legal expert said.
Police say a 6-year-old student shot his teacher at a Virginia elementary school on Friday, and authorities face a difficult and uncomfortable question: How should they prosecute a crime committed by a first-grader?
The investigation is ongoing into the shooting at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Va., but police have not wavered in their determination that the attack was deliberate.
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