A Virginia jury has awarded $10 million to Abby Zwerner, a first-grade teacher who was shot by a 6-year-old student in her classroom nearly two years ago.
Zwerner, 26, filed a civil lawsuit against former assistant principal Ebony Parker, arguing that the school’s leadership failed to act despite repeated warnings that the child had brought a gun to class that day. The shooting occurred in January 2023 at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, when the student pulled a handgun from his backpack and fired a single shot, striking Zwerner in the hand and chest as she sat at a reading table with her students.
During the trial, Zwerner’s lawyers argued that Parker ignored at least four separate reports that morning — from teachers and staff — who said the boy might be armed. The jury ultimately agreed that the administration’s inaction created a dangerous environment that led directly to the shooting.
Zwerner originally sought $40 million in damages but told reporters she was grateful for the verdict, calling it “a step toward accountability.” Her attorney, Diane Toscano, said, “Abby was shot by a six-year-old student, and she will never be the same.”
On the stand, Zwerner recalled the moment she was shot, telling jurors she thought she had died. “I thought I was either on my way to heaven or in heaven,” she said, describing how her vision went black before regaining consciousness to see her coworkers rushing to help her. “That’s when I realized I was hurt.”
Parker’s defense team argued that no reasonable person could have predicted such an event. “No one could have imagined that a six-year-old, first-grade student would bring a firearm into a school,” her attorney, Daniel Hogan, told jurors. “That’s the heart of this case — whether it was foreseeable.” The jury, however, decided it was.
The child, whose identity has not been released due to his age, was not charged. Prosecutors instead focused on his mother, who later pleaded guilty to felony child neglect and was sentenced to 21 months in prison. Parker, meanwhile, still faces separate child abuse charges related to the incident.
