Virginia teacher shot by 6-year-old student takes $40 million lawsuit to trial

A Virginia court has opened proceedings in a $40 million lawsuit filed by Abby Zwerner, a first-grade teacher who was shot by a six-year-old student inside her classroom last year, an incident that shocked the community and reignited questions about accountability in school safety.Zwerner, who taught at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, sustained gunshot wounds to her hand and chest in January 2023 while seated at a reading table. She underwent six surgeries during nearly two weeks of hospitalisation and continues to suffer limited mobility in her left hand. A bullet remains lodged in her chest.

Warnings allegedly ignored

At the centre of Zwerner’s civil case is former assistant principal Ebony Parker, accused of disregarding multiple warnings on the day of the shooting.Her attorney, Diane Toscano, told jurors that at least four individuals had alerted Parker that the young student might have brought a gun to school, yet no immediate action was taken.Toscano argued that Parker possessed both the authority and responsibility to search the child, remove him from class, or contact law enforcement — measures that, she said, could have prevented the attack. “Bad decisions and choices were made that day,” Toscano stated in court, the Associated Press reports.

The shooting occurred on the boy’s first day back following a suspension for previously slamming Zwerner’s mobile phone. The event sent shock waves through Newport News, fuelling public debate on how a six-year-old could access a firearm and use it within a school.

The defence’s stance

In her defence, Parker’s attorney, Daniel Hogan, urged the jury to consider the situation as it unfolded rather than through hindsight. He contended that decision-making in a school environment is inherently “collaborative” and that the law recognises the unfairness of judging choices “based on what came after the fact.”The Associated Press reported Hogan’s assertion that jurors must decide whether the tragedy was truly foreseeable, a point he called “the heart of this case.”A judge has dismissed previous claims against the district superintendent and school principal, leaving Parker as the sole defendant in Zwerner’s civil action.

Criminal proceedings to follow

Beyond the civil trial, Parker faces a separate criminal case next month, charged with eight counts of felony child neglect, one for each of the eight bullets that endangered the students present during the shooting, prosecutors said.

Each count carries a potential sentence of up to five years in prison if convicted.Criminal prosecutions of school officials following shootings remain rare. The charges underscore how questions of negligence and institutional responsibility have increasingly entered the courtroom alongside broader conversations on gun safety and parental accountability.The student’s mother, meanwhile, has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison after pleading guilty to felony child neglect and federal weapons offences, AP reports.

A case testing the limits of duty and foresight

As the trial unfolds, it is expected to probe not only Parker’s decisions but the broader expectations society places on educators to anticipate the unimaginable.At its core, Zwerner’s lawsuit forces an uncomfortable question into focus: How much responsibility can, or should, fall on school administrators when the threat comes from a child barely old enough to read?