A first grade teacher who was shot by her 6-year-old student in January is filing a lawsuit against school officials. Abby Zwerner is seeking $40 million in damages, alleging that officials knew the boy had a history of violence and ignored warnings that he had a gun.
Zwerner, a 25-year-old teacher at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, spent nearly two weeks in the hospital after the incident.
In the lawsuit, the defendants include the Newport News School Board, Superintendent George Parker III, Principal Briana Foster Newton, and Assistant Principal Ebony Parker. According to the complaint, Parker ignored “at least three separate warnings from teachers and staff that students had seen the firearm” and that the student had “removed an object that was likely a firearm from his backpack before it was searched.” The lawsuit also alleges that Parker “forbade” teachers from searching the student, saying his “mother would be arriving soon to pick him up.”
The student had a history of violence, and the lawsuit said he had needed a parent to accompany him during the school day in prior months. The complaint said he had choked a teacher in the past. But on the day of the shooting, he was not required to have anyone with him.
After the shooting, the assistant principal resigned, the superintendent was fired and the principal was reassigned. The defendants have not responded to requests for comment.
The student had used his mother’s gun, which she had purchased legally. Newport News prosecutor Howard Gwynn said his office will not charge the student, but has not yet decided if he’ll charge any adults.
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