Virginia Teacher Shot by 6-Year-Old Files $40M Lawsuit Alleging School Negligence

A Virginia teacher who was shot by a 6-year-old student has filed a $40 million lawsuit against the school after alleging that they ignored warnings about the boy and his history of violence. Abigail Zwerner was shot by the student in January 2023 at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News. Zwerner's complaint states that the school administrators failed to take adequate measures to protect her despite multiple reports that the boy had a gun and posed an imminent threat. Zwerner, who is seeking a jury trial, has suffered physical and mental anguish as a result of the incident. Lawyers for Zwerner have said that school leadership knew of at least three separate warnings that the boy was believed to have a gun and that some students had reported seeing it.

The lawsuit mentions troubling behavior by the boy identified as John Doe, while he was in kindergarten at Richneck during the 2021-22 school year. The boy strangled and choked a teacher and was removed from the school. That same year, he also pulled up the dress of a female student and touched her inappropriately until reprimanded by a teacher. The boy was transferred out of Richneck and placed in a different institution within the district, but was allowed to return for the 2022-23 school year when he was enrolled in Zwerner's class.

On Jan. 6, 2023, the boy shot Zwerner with a 9 mm handgun while she sat at a reading table in their first-grade classroom, seriously wounding her left hand and chest. The complaint says that between 11:15 and 11:30 a.m. that day, Zwerner went to the assistant principal and said the student appeared in a "violent mood" and had threatened to physically assault a classmate. According to the complaint, the assistant principal "had no response," and another teacher observed that the administrator "essentially ignored Plaintiff's concerns."

The school is accused of ignoring warnings from other teachers and students that the boy had a gun, even after a teacher reported that the boy showed another student the gun at recess and that student told another teacher the boy "would hurt him if he told anyone." Zwerner's lawyers argued that the shooting should not be considered a workers' compensation claim under Virginia law since "no 6-year-old student is going to be a risk of shooting their teacher. It's not part of their job."

The Newport News school board, former schools Superintendent George Parker III, whom the board voted to remove "without cause," and Richneck principal Briana Foster Newton, who was transferred to a different role within the district, are named as defendants in the lawsuit. The boy, identified only as John Doe, is not named as a defendant in the case.

Newport News Commonwealth's Attorney Howard Gwynn has said he would not seek charges against the boy, citing his age and inability to adequately understand the legal system, but said he was still weighing whether he might hold any adults criminally liable. The family of the boy said in a statement in January that the weapon was "secured" in the home and that they have "always been committed to responsible gun ownership and keeping firearms out of the reach of children."