Abby Zwerner
Summary
A jury in Virginia has awarded $10 million in a civil case brought by former first-grade teacher Abby Zwerner, who was shot by a 6-year-old student in January 2023.
What happened
On 6 January 2023, at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, a six-year-old boy — whose identity is protected — brought a 9 mm handgun from home into his classroom and shot his teacher, Abby Zwerner. The bullet struck her through her raised hand, then into her chest, where it remains.
Zwerner, who was teaching first grade at the time, had evacuated her students even after being hit, was hospitalised for nearly two weeks, underwent several surgeries, and continues to suffer from permanent injury to her left hand and emotional trauma.
The lawsuit
Zwerner filed a civil lawsuit in April 2023 against the former assistant principal of the school, Ebony Parker, alleging gross negligence. She claimed Parker ignored multiple warnings on the day of the shooting that the boy had a gun, failed to investigate those warnings or remove the threat, and thereby breached her duty to protect staff and students.
Parker’s defence argued the incident was “unthinkable” and “unprecedented” — that no reasonable school official could have foreseen a 6-year-old bringing a gun to class and shooting a teacher.
The verdict
On 6 November 2025, after a six-day trial and about five and a half hours of jury deliberation, a Newport News jury returned a verdict in favour of Zwerner, awarding her $10 million in damages.
It is reported that Zwerner had sought approximately $40 million.
The jury found that Parker acted with gross negligence by failing to act on credible reports that a student had a firearm.
Why the case matters
• It highlights the extreme breach of school safety protocols and raises questions about accountability at the level of administration when warnings are given.
• The case may set precedent for civil liability of school officials when there are prior warnings of violent threats from students.
• It draws attention to the issue of firearms accessibility to very young children in homes, and the intersection of home storage practices, parental responsibility and school safety.
• It underscores the long-term physical and emotional toll on educators from gun violence in schools.
Aftermath
• Zwerner has not returned to teaching; she has become a licensed cosmetologist and does not plan to return to the classroom, citing ongoing anxiety, PTSD and physical limitations.
• Parker faces separate criminal trial charges of child neglect in connection with the shooting.
• The student’s mother, Deja Taylor, was previously sentenced to 21 months in prison in 2023 on federal gun-related offences and child neglect.
Broader context & reactions
Many school officials across the U.S. and experts in school security say this verdict sends a strong message: once credible warnings are received that a student has a weapon, administrators must act — simply “see something, say something” is not sufficient.
Advocacy groups for safe gun storage have pointed to this incident as further evidence of the danger posed when firearms in homes with children are not secured, noting that many school shooters obtain their weapons from home or relatives.
What’s next
• The $10 million award may be subject to appeal by Parker or by the insurance/School Board.
• The criminal case against Parker is pending, which could add further consequences for school leadership breaches.
• The case may trigger policy reviews in school districts about how warning reports from staff and students are handled, and how risk is assessed when very young children show signs of violence.
• It may influence legal standards on administrator liability in analogous cases where children bring weapons to schools.
Conclusion
The verdict in favour of Abby Zwerner marks a landmark civil judgment in a rare and shocking school-shooting incident involving a 6-year-old. It reflects not only on the devastating personal impact on one teacher but on systemic questions of how schools, administrators, and parents respond to early warning signs of violence, and the stakes of accountability when prevention fails.
Attached is a news article regarding a Virgina school teacher who was shot by a 6 year old awarded 10 million dollars
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy5q7ygx14zo.amp
Article written and configured by Christopher Stanley
In-- Google tag (gtag.js) --> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-XDGJVZXVQ4"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-XDGJVZXVQ4'); </script>
<script src="https://cdn-eu.pagesense.io/js/smilebandltd/45e5a7e3cddc4e92ba91fba8dc
No comments:
Post a Comment