Abby Zwerner, a former teacher from Virginia, shared her traumatic experience in court on Thursday, describing the moments after she was shot by a 6-year-old student. This incident, which took place at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News in January 2023, has sparked a $40 million lawsuit against a former assistant principal accused of disregarding multiple warnings regarding the child's access to a firearm.
Zwerner testified that she thought she had died that day. 'I thought I had died. I thought I was either on my way to heaven or in heaven,' she recalled. After being shot in the hand and chest, Zwerner spent nearly two weeks in the hospital, underwent six surgeries, and, to this day, does not have full use of her left hand.
The shooting sent shockwaves through the community and raised critical questions about how a child so young could manage to access a gun and use it in school. Despite addressing the public safety concerns, Zwerner has since resigned from her teaching position and has begun a new career as a licensed cosmetologist.
In court, it was revealed that several people had alerted assistant principal Ebony Parker in the hours leading up to the shooting, expressing fears that the student had brought a gun to school. Parker is currently the only defendant in the lawsuit, while previous legal actions against the school superintendent and principal have been dismissed.
Parker now faces a separate criminal trial, with eight counts of felony child neglect, each carrying a potential five-year prison sentence. The child's mother has also been sentenced to nearly four years for similar charges after her son took her handgun from a dresser.
