Ex-assistant principal faces trial after 6-year-old shot teacher in Virginia

A former assistant principal at a Virginia elementary school is scheduled for trial Monday on criminal charges that she ignored warnings a six-year-old student brought a loaded gun to school, which was later used to shoot his first-grade teacher.

Ebony Parker’s trial begins in Newport News, where she faces eight counts of felony child neglect, one for each bullet in the firearm that ended up in Abby Zwerner’s classroom at Richneck Elementary School in January 2023.

Each count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison upon conviction, prosecutors said.

Court documents allege Parker “did commit a willful act or omission in the care of such students, in a manner so gross, wanton and culpable as to show a reckless disregard for human life.”

Experts say criminal charges against school officials following a school shooting are rare. The incident sent shock waves through this military shipbuilding community and the nation, raising questions about how a child so young could access a gun and shoot his teacher.

Last November, a jury awarded $10 million to Zwerner, siding with her claims that Parker, the former assistant principal, ignored repeated warnings that the child had a gun.

Zwerner was shot while sitting at a reading table in her classroom. She spent nearly two weeks in the hospital, underwent six surgeries, and does not have full use of her left hand. A bullet narrowly missed her heart and remains lodged in her chest.

Parker was the sole defendant in the lawsuit, after a judge previously dismissed the district’s superintendent and the school principal as defendants.

The lawsuit stated Parker had a duty to protect Zwerner and others after being alerted about the gun. Zwerner’s attorneys argued Parker failed to act in the hours before the shooting despite multiple staff members informing her that the student had a weapon in his backpack.

Zwerner testified she first learned of the gun during a class recess from a reading specialist who was tipped off by students. The shooting occurred a few hours later. Despite her injuries, Zwerner managed to evacuate her students from the classroom before collapsing in the school office.

Court records show Zwerner is scheduled to testify in the criminal case.

The student’s mother was sentenced to nearly four years in prison after pleading guilty to felony child neglect and federal weapons charges. Her son told authorities he climbed on top of a dresser to retrieve the gun from his mother’s purse.