Virginia Teacher Shot By First-Grader Files $40 Million Lawsuit

Abby Zwerner, a first-grade teacher at Richneck Elementary School in Virginia, filed a lawsuit demanding $40 million in damages from her local school board, the superintendent of schools, and the assistant principals at her school. Zwerner was shot by a six-year-old student on January 6, 2022. She underwent four surgeries and no one has been charged in connection with the shooting.

According to her lawsuit, school officials knew that the child who shot her had a history of violence both at school and at home. In fact, he had previously “strangled and choked” his kindergarten teacher a year earlier. The defendants named in the lawsuit are the Newport News School Board, former Superintendent George Parker III, former Richneck principal Briana Foster-Newton, and former Richneck assistant principal Ebony Parker.

Zwerner allegedly visited Parker’s office to inform her that the boy was in a “violent mood” and had threatened to beat up a kindergartner, but Parker refused to acknowledge her concerns. Kovac, a reading specialist at the school, reported to Parker that the boy had claimed to have a gun, but Parker did nothing. The lawsuit also states that a first-grade boy told a teacher that the boy had a firearm in his pocket, which prompted the teacher to tell a music teacher, who then informed Parker. Parker argued that the backpack had already been searched, and “took no further action,” claim the lawsuit. The lawsuit also claims that Parker said that a guidance counselor was not allowed to search the boy, arguing that his mother would pick him up soon.

The boy was transferred to a different school in 2021 but was later readmitted to Richneck in the fall of 2022. According to the lawsuit, a modified schedule was adopted for him since he chased other students around the playground with a belt and cursed both staff and teachers.

Foster-Newton’s attorney, Pamela Branch, denied the claims and reiterated that her client had not been given any information regarding the boy carrying a gun. James Ellenson, the attorney representing the boy’s family, urged the public not to believe the accusations in the lawsuit.

One parent of a first-grader at the school spoke to The Daily Mail and described Zwerner as a dedicated teacher who cared deeply about her students. The parent recounted how Zwerner screamed at the students to run away after she was shot in order to keep them safe.