A 6-year-old student shot and wounded a Virginia teacher on Friday during an altercation in a first-grade classroom.

No students were injured in the shooting at Richneck Elementary School, police said.

The teacher, a woman in her 30s, suffered life-threatening injuries.

Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew told reporters that her condition had improved by late afternoon.

Police said the child had a handgun in the classroom. The student is in custody.

Students and police gather outside Richneck Elementary School after a shooting, with the accused - a child - in custody. Photo / AP

“We did not have a situation where someone was going around the school shooting,” Drew told reporters. “We have a situation in one particular location where a gunshot was fired.”

Parents and students were reunited at a gymnasium door, Newport News Public Schools said on Facebook.

Newport News is a city of about 185,000 people in southeastern Virginia known for its shipyard, which builds the nation’s aircraft carriers and other US Navy vessels.

Richneck has about 550 students who are in kindergarten through fifth grade, according to the Virginia Department of Education’s website. School officials have already said that there will be no classes at the school on Monday.