Virginia School Assistant Principal Charged After 6-Year-Old Shoots Teacher

A former assistant principal at a Virginia elementary school where a 6-year-old student shot Abigail Zwerner a teacher of the first grade in that school, faces criminal charges.

A criminal complaint, unsealed by a grand jury on Tuesday, found that Ebony Park had “reckless negligence” towards the children of Richneck Elementary School on January 6, 2023.

In the document that charges Parker, it is alleged that Parker was in charge of Richneck’s pupils and had “feloniously acted, or omitted, in a manner so gross, wanton and culpable as to show a reckless disregard for human life.”

Parker faces eight counts, each punishable by up to five years in prison.

Curtis Rogers didn’t respond to our request immediately for a statement.

Zwerner has filed a $40 million lawsuit against Parker and Richneck School, alleging that officials ignored warning signs before the shooting. According to a Newport News Circuit Court complaint, other staffers informed Parker that the boy might have had a gun on the day of the shooting.

According to Newport News Police, the student who shot Zwerner had taken his mother’s firearm from a dresser on the top floor of the house and hidden it in a bag.

Zwerner describes in his lawsuit the warnings that school employees gave to administrators before the shooting. Zwerner said in the lawsuit Parker was in a “violent mood”, had threatened to beat another kindergartener, and stared at the security guards in the lunchroom.

In the complaint, it is stated that other teachers told Parker about their students’ suspicions of Parker having a weapon during recess. The assistant principal, however, “forbade” them from searching his backpack again, believing that his pockets weren’t large enough to conceal an actual handgun. He said that his mother would pick him up when he was dismissed.

According to police, the boy shot Zwerner at a reading table in front of the class. The bullet broke her middle finger, index, and thumb. After the bullet entered her upper chest one of her lungs collapsed.

Zwerner’s lawsuit states that she spent 2 weeks in the hospital and required multiple surgeries for recovery. She has also suffered from ongoing emotional trauma.

Zwerner was the first woman who spoke out following the shooting incident on March 21. She said, “There are certain things I’ll never forget.” I will never forget the look that he gave me when he pointed his pistol directly at me. “I will never forget that. It changed me.”

Zwerner sued the Newport News Board of Education, a former superintendent, and a former principal. In an attempt to stop this lawsuit, they claimed that Zwerner was covered by Virginia worker’s compensation laws. The trial has been scheduled for January.

The mother of the boy who shot Zwerner, Deja Taylor, was sentenced to two years in prison for felony neglect and federal weapons charges.