Teacher shot by 6-year-old student files $40M lawsuit
RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia teacher who was shot and seriously wounded by her 6-year-old student filed a lawsuit Monday seeking $40 million in damages from school officials, accusing them of gross negligence and of ignoring multiple warnings the day of the shooting that the boy was armed and in a “violent mood.”
Abby Zwerner, a first-grade teacher at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, was shot in the hand and chest on Jan. 6 as she sat at a reading table in her classroom. The 25-year-old teacher spent nearly two weeks in the hospital and required four surgeries.
The shooting sent shock waves through the military shipbuilding community and the country, with many wondering how a child so young could access a gun and shoot his teacher.
The lawsuit names as defendants the Newport News School Board, former Superintendent George Parker III, former Richneck principal Briana FosterNewton and former Richneck assistant principal Ebony Parker.
Michelle Price, a school board spokesperson, said via email that the board had not yet been served with the lawsuit.
“Our thoughts and prayers remain with Abby Zwerner and her ongoing recovery,” said a board statement, calling the safety and well-being of staff and students its utmost priority.
George Parkerand Ebony Parker did not respond to cellphone messages.
Foster-Newton’s attorney, Pamela Branch, has said she was unaware of reports that the boy had a gun at school on the day of the shooting.
James Ellenson, an attorney for the boy’s family, said in a statement the “allegations in the complaint in reference to the child and his family should be taken with a large grain of salt.” No one has been charged. The local prosecutor said last month that the boy will not be charged, although an investigation is ongoing.
In the lawsuit, Zwerner’s attorneys say all of the defendants knew the boy “had a history of random violence” at school and at home, including an episode the year before when he “strangled and choked” his kindergarten teacher.
School officials removed the boy from Richneck and sent him to another school for the remainder of the year, but allowed his return for first grade in fall 2022, the lawsuit states. He was placed on a modified schedule “because he was chasing students around the playground with a belt in an effort to whip them,” and was cursing staff and teachers, it says.
“Teachers’ concerns with John Doe’s behavior (were) regularly brought to the attention of Richneck Elementary School administration, and the concerns were always dismissed,” the lawsuit states. Often, after he was taken to the office, “he would return to class shortly thereafter with some type of reward, such as a piece of candy,” the lawsuit states.
The boy’s parents did not agree to put him in special education classes where he would be with other students with behavioral issues, the lawsuit states.