7 Families File Lawsuits Against VA School Where Boy, 6, Shot Teacher

NEWPORT NEWS, VA — Seven families of students at Richneck Elementary School have filed lawsuits against the Newport News school board and three administrators, claiming more should have been done to prevent a 6-year-old student from shooting teacher Abigail Zwerner, according to a report.

The lawsuits, filed last week in Newport News Circuit Court, claim the school board and the administrators failed to report concerns that the boy had a gun, the Virginian-Pilot reported. The suits also accuse the defendants of gross negligence and infliction of emotional distress.

The administrators named in the suit include former Superintendent George Parker III, former Richneck Principal Briana Foster-Newton and former Assistant Principal Ebony V. Parker, according to the Virginian-Pilot.

The lawsuits were filed just two days ahead of the first anniversary of the shooting. Newport News police said the boy took his mother's 9mm handgun to school, pulled it from his backpack and used it to shoot Zwerner while she was teaching her first-grade class.

Police Chief Steve Drew has repeatedly characterized the shooting as "intentional," saying the boy aimed at Zwerner and fired one round, striking her in the hand and chest. The shot resulted in severe injuries, including a lung collapse.

Zwerner spent two weeks in the hospital recovering from her injuries.

Zwerner has also filed a $40 million lawsuit against the Newport News school district. In Zwerner's lawsuit, attorneys claimed Ebony Parker chose to "breach her assumed duty" to protect Zwerner "despite multiple reports that a firearm was on school property and likely in possession of a violent individual."

Attorneys for Zwerner also allege that school officials knew the boy "had a history of random violence" at school and home, including that he "strangled and choked" his kindergarten teacher.

Zwerner's lawsuit also names George Parker and Foster-Newton as defendants.

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According to the new lawsuits filed by families, multiple students who witnessed the shooting have experienced heart palpitations, insomnia, headaches, nausea, digestive issues and bed-wetting since the shooting, the Virginian-Pilot reported.

The families also claim school leaders did not provide Zwerner with the resources she needed despite the boy's history of violent behavior that posed a “longstanding risk” to others at the school.

Since the shooting, the boy's mother — 26-year-old Deja Taylor — was sentenced to two years in prison after she pleaded guilty to felony child neglect.

Taylor’s son told authorities he got his mother’s gun by climbing onto a drawer to reach the top of a dresser, where the firearm was in his mom’s purse. Taylor initially told investigators she had secured her gun with a trigger lock, but investigators said they never found one.

Taylor was also sentenced in November to 21 months in prison for using marijuana while owning a gun.

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