Video Shows Va. Police Officers Helping Students after School Shooting

A newly released video honoring a Virginia police department's fallen officers also includes an officer's body camera footage as he responded to a January school shooting in which a 6-year-old student shot a teacher.

The previously unreleased footage was one of the examples of the positive impact the Newport News Police Department has on the community and was part of the department's video to honor its fallen officers for National Police Week, WAVY-TV reports. In the footage, a responding officer is seen driving up to Richneck Elementary School in response to a Jan. 6 call concerning a shooting.

“Heavenly Father, keep our officers safe, keep our students safe, let us make the decisions we need to make,” the officer is heard saying in the video.

“It’s hard to talk about without getting choked up,” Chief Steve Drew told WAVY. “I know that officer, Officer Watkins, he’s been here a while. He has a family of his own. I thought it was very fitting to see him exit his vehicle and run towards the school. I think that’s what officers do every day.”

Another officer in the video is then seen leading students through the halls to evacuate the school following the shooting. Throughout the brief footage, the officer encourages the children and tells them they're moving along like a train.

“You can’t pay somebody enough for that,” Drew said. “You can’t train that – that comes from what you feel inside. You have to have a heart for service.”

First-grade teacher Abby Zwerner was shot during class by a 6-year-old student who had brought his mother's Taurus 9mm handgun to school. The bullet went through Zwerner's left, which she brought up in a defensive move, and struck her in the chest and shoulder.

The student's 25-year-old mother has been charged with felony child neglect and a misdemeanor count of recklessly leaving a gun so as to endanger a child.