The Virginia teacher whose 6-year-old student shot and injured her inside a classroom in 2023 has been awarded $10 million in a civil lawsuit against a former school administrator.
A jury found in favor of Abigail Zwerner in a Nov. 6 verdict. Zwerner sued former assistant principal Ebony Parker for $40 million after the Jan. 6, 2023, shooting at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, arguing that the former assistant principal had multiple warnings a student had a gun but failed to take action to prevent the shooting.
The shooting unfolded in the first-grade classroom where Zwerner was teaching students. A 6-year-old boy used a gun that belonged to his mother to shoot Zwerner once, striking her in the hand and chest. Zwerner was hospitalized for nearly two weeks and told the jury she thought she had died, according to news reports.
The shooting rocked the community and drew national attention to the question of how such a young child could commit such an act of violence.
Parker was also charged with felony child abuse and disregard for life in an ongoing criminal case.
