A former teacher shot by student, 6, wins $10M jury verdict against ex-assistant principal
CORRECTS SHOOTING TO 2023, NOT LAST YEAR – FILE – Abby Zwerner, a teacher who was shot at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Va., by her 6-year-old student in 2023, talks to reporter Peter Dujardin, Jan. 3, 2024, in Virginia Beach, Va. (Stephen M. Katz /The Virginian-Pilot via AP)
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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) — A Virginia jury on Thursday awarded $10 million to a former teacher who was shot by a 6-year-old student and had accused a former assistant principal of ignoring repeated warnings that the child had a gun.
The verdict came against Ebony Parker, formerly an assistant principal at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News. Abby Zwerner, the first-grade teacher, was shot in January 2023 while sitting at a reading table in her classroom. Zwerner had sought $40 million in the lawsuit.
Abby Zwerner’s attorney Diane Toscano confers with her colleague Jeffrey Breit during Zwerner’s lawsuit Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025, in Newport News, Va. (Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot via AP, Pool)
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Zwerner 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 only defendant remaining in the lawsuit after a judge dismissed the district superintendent and the school principal as defendants. The shooting drew national attention and raised concerns over how a young child could access a gun and use it in a school setting.
Former Richneck Elementary School assistant principal Ebony Parker looks back into the courtroom during Abby Zwerner’s lawsuit against her Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025, in Newport News, Va. (Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot via AP, Pool)
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The lawsuit argued that Parker had a duty to protect Zwerner and others after being informed about the gun. Attorneys for Zwerner said Parker failed to take action in the hours leading up to the shooting, despite multiple staff members alerting her that the student had a gun in his backpack.
“Who would think a 6-year-old would bring a gun to school and shoot their teacher?” Zwerner’s attorney, Diane Toscano, told the jury. “It’s Dr. Parker’s job to believe that this is possible. It’s her job to investigate and get to the very bottom of it.”
Parker did not testify. Her attorney, Daniel Hogan, cautioned jurors against judging her actions with hindsight, calling it “Monday morning quarterbacking.” He emphasized that jurors should evaluate decisions based on what Parker knew at the time, not what happened afterward.
Newport News Circuit Court Judge Matthew Hoffman sidebars with attorneys during Former Richneck Elementary School teacher Abby Zwerner’s civil lawsuit against the former assistant principal of the school where Zwerner was shot, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025, in Newport News, Va. (Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot via AP, Pool)
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The shooting occurred on the first day the student returned from a suspension for slamming Zwerner’s phone two days prior. Zwerner testified that she first learned about the gun from a reading specialist who had been tipped off by students, just hours before the shooting. Despite her injuries, Zwerner guided her students out of the classroom before losing consciousness in the school office.
“I thought I was either on my way to heaven or in heaven,” Zwerner said. “Then it all went black. My next memory is seeing two co-workers around me, applying pressure to my injuries.”
Former Richneck Elementary School teacher Abby Zwerner looks back into the courtroom during her civil lawsuit trial, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025, in Newport News, Va. (Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot via AP, Pool)
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Zwerner no longer works for the school district and has said she does not plan to return to teaching, instead becoming a licensed cosmetologist.
Parker faces a separate criminal trial this month on eight felony child neglect charges, each carrying up to five years in prison. The student’s mother was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for felony child neglect and federal weapons charges. Authorities said the child accessed his mother’s handgun by climbing onto a dresser to reach a purse where it was stored.
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