Civil trial begins in $40 million lawsuit over 6-year-old student shooting teacher
Newport News teacher Abby Zwerner was shot in 2023.
A school staffer recounted the moment she heard a gunshot fired in an elementary school during an ongoing civil trial in Virginia, nearly three years after a then-6-year-old student shot his first-grade teacher in a classroom.
The teacher, Abby Zwerner, is seeking $40 million over the January 2023 shooting at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, according to the civil complaint.
The complaint alleges that the school's assistant principal at the time, Ebony Parker, failed to act after being informed multiple times that the student had a firearm on the day of the shooting and did not let anyone search him despite repeated requests.
Amy Kovac, a reading specialist for Newport News Public Schools, was one of several school staffers who testified Tuesday that they reported concerns that the 6-year-old student -- who Zwerner's attorneys are referring to as JT during the trial -- had a gun.
Kovac testified that two students in Zwerner's class told her that JT had a gun in his backpack, and that when she confronted him, he refused to provide her with his bag. She told the court that she reported this to Parker and told the assistant principal that she would check the backpack during recess.
Kovac testified that Zwerner texted her that she saw JT take something out of his backpack and put it in his pocket ahead of recess. When she searched JT's backpack, Kovac told the court that, as she then suspected, there was no gun. She said she reported this to Parker as well.
Asked by the plaintiff's attorney if she thought Parker was handling the situation, Kovac responded, "I did, until nothing happened."
When she heard a gunshot go off in Zwerner's classroom near the end of the school day, Kovac testified that she believed JT had fired the gun. She said she went inside the classroom as children were "screaming and running out" and saw Zwerner with blood on her leg.
Kovac testified that she went straight to JT and contained him, then dialed 911 and said, "This is Richneck. A teacher's been shot, I have the shooter."
Another first-grade teacher at the school, Jennifer West, testified Tuesday that a "visibly nervous" student told her after recess that JT had a gun on him and he saw the firearm and bullet. She said she called the front office to report this to an administrator, per protocol, and also spoke to a school counselor about it.
The counselor, Rolonzo Rawles, testified Tuesday that he asked Parker if he could search JT's person for a gun, and that she responded that the student's mother would be arriving to get him soon and to wait to check him then.
"I didn't want to step over any boundaries, so I wasn't going to check him without permission," Rawles said.
Rawles got emotional recounting the shooting and the moment he learned that JT had shot Zwerner.
The civil complaint alleges Parker acted with gross negligence and in "reckless disregard" for Zwerner's safety.
"Who would think a 6-year-old is going to bring a gun to school and shoot their teacher? Members of the jury, it's Dr Parker's job to believe that that is possible. It's her job to investigate it and to get to the very bottom of it," Zwerner's attorney, Diane Toscano, said during opening statements earlier Tuesday.
Toscano said jurors will hear from the defense that "Abby could have done more," but instead asked them to "notice each time Dr. Parker had a decision to make, what that decision was that Dr. Parker made, how many opportunities Dr. Parker had to prevent what happened on Jan. 6."
"I'm confident at the end of this, you'll have a clear picture of what happened and how that tragedy on Jan. 6 happened, minute by minute, decision by decision," Toscano said.
The student took the firearm out of his pocket and aimed it at Zwerner while she was seated in the classroom, according to the complaint. The bullet went through her hand and then into her chest, and Zwerner was initially hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, police said.
Toscano said jurors will hear how the shooting has "changed Abby's life forever," through testimony from doctors and her family members who cared for her, and the "pain and trauma" she continues to experience.
Parker's attorney, Daniel Hogan, called the negligence case "unusual" and discussed "hindsight bias" in his opening remarks.
"No one could have imagined that a 6-year-old first grade student would bring a firearm to an elementary school," he said.
He said the jury will have to answer "hard questions": "Is it really foreseeable that a 6-year-old child would shoot their own teacher? Was that reasonably foreseeable? Was Dr. Parker indifferent? Did she fail to exercise at least some degree of care, even if it didn't work out? Did Abby Zwerner fail to take steps for her own safety?"
The civil trial has been scheduled to run through Nov. 6, according to the online docket.
Three other defendants initially listed in Zwerner's complaint -- two other school administrators and the Newport News School Board -- have since been dismissed from the lawsuit.
Parker has also been charged with eight counts of felony child abuse with disregard for life in connection with the shooting -- one count for each bullet that was in the gun, according to the Newport News Commonwealth's Attorney's Office. A trial on the criminal charges is scheduled to start next month.
Parker resigned from her position shortly after the incident.
Zwerner has said she has undergone multiple surgeries following the shooting, has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression and has nightmares stemming from the incident.
Zwerner told Hampton, Virginia, ABC affiliate WVEC in an interview a year after the shooting she does not think she will be able to teach again due to the "anxiety, the PTSD and the fear."
The student brought the gun from home, police said. His mother, Deja Taylor, was sentenced to two years in state prison for child neglect in connection with the shooting, which she is currently serving. Taylor was also sentenced to 21 months in prison on federal firearm and drug charges, which she has since served.
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