Virginia Teacher Shot By 6-Year-Old Awarded $10 Million in Landmark Negligence Case

Abigail Zwerner has undergone five surgeries on her hand and continues to live with a bullet lodged in her chest.

On Thursday, a jury awarded $10 million in damages to a Virginia school teacher who was shot by her 6-year-old student in 2023, concluding her negligence lawsuit against a school administrator.

Abigail Zwerner filed the lawsuit claiming that an assistant principal at her Newport News elementary school ignored multiple warnings that a firearm was present on school property and likely in the possession of the young boy who ultimately shot her in January 2023.

According to police reports, the boy had taken a 9mm handgun from his home and transported it to school in his backpack. During class, the boy removed the weapon and fired once at Zwerner, striking her in both her hand and chest. Despite her injuries, Zwerner managed to evacuate all students from the classroom. She has since undergone five hand surgeries, and the bullet remains lodged in her chest.

The defense team for Ebony Parker, the former assistant principal at Richneck Elementary where the incident occurred, argued throughout the trial that she could not have anticipated the shooting.

Zwerner's legal representatives countered that Parker had been informed by fellow students about the 6-year-old bringing a gun to school but failed to take prompt action on this critical information.

Parker faces an upcoming criminal trial next month on charges of child abuse and neglect. In a related case, Deja Taylor, the mother of the boy who committed the shooting, received a 21-month prison sentence in 2023 on federal charges for possessing a firearm while using controlled substances and making false statements during the gun purchase.

These legal proceedings, along with several other cases involving parents of school shooters in recent years, may establish important precedents regarding the level of responsibility that parents and school administrators bear in school shooting incidents, which have become a persistent tragedy across the United States over recent decades.