A teacher from Virginia is suing a school administrator after a 6-year-old student shot her in 2023. Abby Zwerner was working at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News when the shooting happened in January 2023. She had to go through several operations because of her injuries.
According to People, Zwerner is asking for $40 million in her case against Ebony Parker, who used to be the assistant principal at the school. She says Parker knew about the gun but did nothing to stop what happened. The case went to trial on Monday, October 24, and both lawyers gave their first statements in court.
The paperwork for the case says that four separate people went to Parker with worries about the student having a weapon that same day. During her speech to the jury, Zwerner’s lawyer Diane Toscano said Parker could have checked the student’s belongings or sent him home but did neither of those things.
The Defense Presents A Completely Different Perspective
Toscano talked about how badly her client was hurt, explaining that Abby Zwerner “has endured four surgeries and still has a bullet lodged inside her.” The papers filed in court say Zwerner still feels pain in her body and struggles with emotional problems because of what happened.
Parker’s lawyer, Daniel Hogan, gave a defense that many found surprising when he spoke in court. He told the jury that nobody could have known this would happen. “No one could have imagined that a 6-year old, first-grade student would bring a firearm into a school,” Hogan said to everyone in the courtroom. He wanted the jury to think about whether anyone could have really seen this coming.
Hogan also talked about something called hindsight bias when explaining his side. He said people should not blame his client for decisions she made just because everyone knows more now than they did back then. He believes Parker should be judged only on what she knew when everything was happening, not on facts that came out later. In other shocking criminal cases, investigators have found damning digital evidence like Google searches that proved premeditation.
When the lawsuit first started, several people were named in it, but now Parker is the only one left facing charges. She is also dealing with separate charges related to child abuse from the same incident, based on records from Virginia courts.
What happened that day affected more people than just the school staff. The boy’s mother went to prison for almost four years. A judge found her guilty of not taking proper care of her child and also guilty of federal gun crimes.
Many people are now asking hard questions about keeping schools safe and what school leaders should do when someone tells them about possible danger. Similar questions about criminal planning have emerged in cases where dash cam footage revealed shocking premeditated crimes.
Zwerner’s lawyer was very clear about how this has changed her client’s whole life. “Abby was shot by a six-year-old student, and she will never be the same,” Toscano said when talking to reporters. The teacher is still dealing with pain and emotional struggles from that day in her classroom.
Published: Oct 29, 2025 08:45 pm