Virginia Teacher Shot by 6-Year-Old Student Sues Former Assistant Principal in $40M Lawsuit

Abby Zwerner, a first-grade teacher at Richneck Elementary School in Virginia, testified in her $40 million lawsuit that she thought she had died after being shot in the hand and chest by a 6-year-old student in January 2023. Despite her severe injuries, which required six surgeries and left her without full use of her left hand, Zwerner managed to evacuate her students before passing out. The lawsuit accuses former assistant principal Ebony Parker of ignoring multiple warnings about the student carrying a gun, which Parker denies; Parker faces a separate criminal trial on felony child neglect charges. The student's mother was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for felony child neglect and federal weapons charges after the child obtained the handgun from her purse. Zwerner no longer works as a teacher and has become a licensed cosmetologist, describing ongoing physical and emotional struggles since the shooting. The case has drawn national attention to how a young child accessed a firearm and the responsibilities of school staff in preventing such tragedies.