A Virginia elementary school teacher who was shot by a 6-year-old student in 2023 has filed a lawsuit against the school’s assistant principal, alleging negligence for not preventing the attack.
Abby Zwerner was teaching at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, in January 2023 when the first grader opened fire, injuring her. The trial for Zwerner’s $40 million lawsuit began on Monday, Oct. 24, according to The Virginian-Pilot.
The lawsuit names former assistant principal Ebony Parker as the defendant, accusing her of failing to respond to multiple warnings that the child had a gun. It also states that Zwerner continues to experience “physical pain and mental anguish.”
“Abby was shot by a six-year-old student, and she will never be the same,” said Zwerner’s attorney, Diane Toscano, in an earlier statement. “She has endured four surgeries and still has a bullet lodged inside her.”
According to the lawsuit, four different individuals expressed concerns to Parker about the student on the day of the shooting. During opening statements, Toscano argued that Parker failed to use her authority to search the child or remove him from class, as reported by the Associated Press.
The AP also noted that while the lawsuit initially included other defendants, Parker is now the only one remaining.
“No one could have imagined that a 6-year-old, first-grade student would bring a firearm into a school,” Parker’s attorney, Daniel Hogan, said in his opening statement, per the AP. “You will be able to judge for yourself whether or not this was foreseeable. That’s the heart of this case.”
Hogan also referenced “hindsight bias,” arguing that it was unfair to evaluate Parker’s choices based on information revealed after the incident, according to the AP.
Virginia court records show that Parker is facing separate child abuse charges related to the shooting. The child’s mother was previously sentenced to nearly four years in prison on child neglect and federal gun charges, per reports from the AP, ABC News, and The Virginian-Pilot.
