Trial starts in $40M lawsuit filed by a teacher who was shot by a 6-year-old student

The Associated Press
October 28, 2025, 5:23 PM

A former assistant principal at a Virginia elementary school ignored multiple warnings that a 6-year-old student had a gun in the hours before he shot his teacher, an attorney for the teacher said Tuesday as trial opened in the woman’s $40 million lawsuit.

Abby Zwerner, a first-grade teacher at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, was shot in the hand and chest in January 2023 as she sat at a reading table in her classroom. Zwerner spent nearly two weeks in the hospital, required six surgeries and does not have the full use of her left hand. A bullet remains in her chest.

The lawsuit accuses former school administrator Ebony Parker of failing to act after four different people went to her with concerns that the student brought a gun to school.

Zwerner’s attorney, Diane Toscano, said in opening statements that Parker made “bad decisions and choices that day.” …?Parker had the authority but failed to search the student, remove him from the classroom and call law enforcement, Toscano added.

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