VA Teacher Shot By 6-Year-Old Files $40M Lawsuit

NEWPORT NEWS, VA — The 25-year-old teacher who police say was shot and seriously injured by a 6-year-old student has filed a $40 million lawsuit alleging the school's administrators ignored multiple warnings that the boy posed a threat, according to the lawsuit obtained by NBC News and information shared by her lawyers in a television interview.

Abby Zwerner's complaint, filed in the 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.

In their interview on TODAY, Zwerner's lawyers, Diane Toscano and Jeffrey Breit, spoke out on the lawsuit, saying they “are going to hold those accountable for what happened to her, for the tragedy that was completely preventable.”

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 in the wake of the shooting, while the board voted to remove Parker III "without cause" and Newton was transferred to a different role within the district, NBC News reported.

Newport News police have accused the 6-year-old boy of shooting Zwerner inside the first-grade classroom where she was teaching 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, resulting in serious injuries including a lung collapse.

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.

According to the complaint, which was obtained by NBC News, the boy strangled and choked a teacher during the 2021-2022 school year. He also pulled up the dress of a female student who had fallen on the playground, the complaint says, and "began to touch the child inappropriately until reprimanded by a teacher."

The boy was also placed on a modified schedule last fall after "chasing students around the playground with a belt in an effort to whip them with it, as well as cursing at staff and teachers," and at least one parent was required to attend school with him every day "because of his violent tendencies," the complaint said.

He was transferred out of the school and placed in a different school in the district but was allowed to return the following year, according to the complaint. The complaint alleges his behavior was regularly brought to the school administration and the complains were always dismissed.

"We know for a fact that there were at least three opportunities for them to stop this from happening… then eventually a teacher comes down there and says, ‘one of the students has actually seen the gun.’ At that point in time you have a ticking time bomb in the school, and the school failed to do anything about it," Breit said on TODAY.

Toscano said in January that on the day of the shooting, concerned teachers and employees warned administrators three times that the boy had a gun on him and was threatening other students, but "the administration could not be bothered."

Before the shooting, Zwerner reportedly texted a loved one and told them the boy was armed and that school officials were failing to act, NBC News reported.

Newport News Superintendent of Schools George Parker told parents after the incident that a school official was notified about the weapon before the shooting. However, no gun was found when the child's backpack was searched.

Last month. top Newport News prosecutor Howard Gwynn said his office will not criminally charge the boy because he wouldn’t understand the legal system and what a charge means.

The boy had fired his mother’s gun, which police said was legally purchased. An attorney for the boy’s family has said that the firearm was secured on a closet shelf and had a lock on it.

The family also said the boy has a disability and was receiving the "treatment he needs" under a court-ordered temporary detention at a medical facility.

Zwerner is seeking a jury trial, according to NBC News.

In a statement shared with Patch Monday afternoon, the Newport News School Board said that it has "not yet received the legal documents," adding that "when the school board is served, we will work with legal counsel accordingly."

"Our thoughts and prayers remain with Abby Zwerner and her ongoing recovery," the statement continued. "As we have shared, as a school community, we continue to recover and support one another. We have been working in partnership with our community to address safety and security, student behavior and family engagement."

The statement concluded: "The safety and well-being of our staff and students is our most important priority. The School Board and the school division’s leadership team will continue to do whatever it takes to ensure a safe and secure teaching and learning environment across all our schools.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

READ MORE:

• 'I Thought I Had Died': VA Teacher Recounts Classroom Shooting
• Boy, 6, Showed Classmates Gun Before VA Teacher Was Shot: Report
• Boy, 6, Choked Another Teacher 'Until She Couldn't Breathe': Lawyer
• VA Principal Didn't Know 6-Year-Old Had Gun, Lawyer Says: Report
• Superintendent Fired After VA Teacher Shot In Classroom: Report
• VA Teacher Shot By 6-Year-Old To Sue Newport News School District
• School Downplayed 6-Year-Old's Behavior Before VA Shooting: Report
• Gun Used To Shoot VA Teacher Locked, Stored On Top Shelf: Attorney
• Angry Parents, Teachers Say Schools Failed To Protect Staff, Kids