Horrifying body camera footage captured the aftermath of a teacher being shot by one of her young students. Abby Zwerner was left covered in blood after the six-year-old pupil shot her hand, chest, and punctured her lung. Despite the attack, Zwerner managed to evacuate the other children in her classroom before collapsing. The distressing scene was presented in court as part of Zwerner’s legal case against the former assistant principal of the primary school in Virginia.
Zwerner filed a lawsuit alleging that the assistant principal, Ebony Parker, neglected to take action despite multiple warnings from staff about the possibility of the young boy being armed that day. The shooting occurred while Zwerner was sitting at a reading table with her students at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, in January 2023. Following six surgeries and nearly two weeks in the hospital, Zwerner survived the ordeal, but a bullet remains lodged in her chest, she has lost the use of her left hand, and she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Consequently, she no longer works for the school district and has expressed no intention to return to teaching.
The graphic footage of the aftermath was shown in court during the lawsuit as Zwerner seeks compensation for the enduring injuries and trauma from the incident. Attorney Diane Toscano argued that Parker made poor decisions that day by failing to act. The jury learned that the shooting occurred on the day the boy returned to school after a suspension for damaging the teacher’s phone just two days earlier.
In defense, Parker’s attorney, Daniel Hogan, contended that it was unforeseeable that a first-grade student would bring a firearm to school. He maintained that judging the decisions made that day based on hindsight would be fundamentally unjust. Claims against the school’s principal and district superintendent were previously dismissed by the judge.
The mother of the boy who shot Zwerner, Deja Taylor, received a nearly four-year prison sentence for child neglect and weapons charges. The child was transferred to a different school and placed under the care of his great-grandfather. Taylor’s son disclosed to authorities that he accessed his mother’s handgun by climbing onto a dresser where she kept it in her purse. Although Taylor initially claimed the gun was secured with a trigger lock, investigators found no evidence of one.