VA District Where First-Grader Shot Teacher Abigail Zwerner Wants Her Lawsuit Dismissed

NEWPORT NEWS, VA — The school district that employs the Virginia teacher shot by her first-grade student in January claims her injuries fall under the state's workers compensation act and can't be addressed through her $40 million lawsuit, according to reports.

Abigail Zwerner was "clearly injured while at work, at her place of employment, by a student in the classroom," the Newport News School Board stated this week in response to her lawsuit, according to The Associated Press.

In court documents obtained by Law & Crime, Newport News school officials argued that a court doesn't have jurisdiction and should dismiss the case. In the motion, school officials said the possibility of violence in the classroom is a risk all teachers take.

"While in an ideal world, young children would not pose any danger to others, including their teachers, this is sadly not reality," the motion states.

Newport News police have accused a 6-year-old boy of shooting Zwerner inside a Richneck Elementary School classroom on Jan. 6. Police said the boy took his mother's 9mm handgun to school, pulled it from his backpack and used it to shoot Zwerner.

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.

Earlier this month, authorities announced the mother of the 6-year-old would be charged with felony child neglect and misdemeanor recklessly leaving a loaded firearm so as to endanger a child.

Before the mother's arrest, Zwener filed a $40 million lawsuit alleging school administrators ignored multiple warnings that the boy posed a threat.

Zwerner's complaint, filed in Newport News Circuit Court, says Richneck Assistant Principal 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," according to NBC News.

Zwerner also alleges 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.

In addition to Parker, the defendants are the Newport News school board, former schools Superintendent George Parker III, and Richneck principal Briana Foster Newton. Parker resigned after the shooting, while the board voted to remove Parker "without cause," and Newton was transferred to a different role within the district.

Zwerner was approved for workers' compensation, which covers injuries "without having to prove negligence," the school board said Wednesday. It provides up to 500 weeks of compensation and lifetime medical care for injuries, but Zwerner has refused to accept it, the board said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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