Former educator at Virginia school where 6-year-old shot teacher had 'shocking' lack of response, grand jury finds
A former assistant principal at a Virginia elementary school must be held criminally liable after her "lack of response" and "poor decisions" led to a student intentionally shooting his first-grade teacher last year, according to a grand jury report.
A former assistant principal at a Virginia elementary school should be held criminally liable after her “lack of response” and “poor decisions” allowed a student to intentionally shoot his first-grade teacher last year, according to a special grand jury report released Wednesday.
Ebony Parker, who resigned in the wake of the shooting at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News on Jan. 6, 2023, now faces eight counts of felony child abuse and neglect, each carrying up to five years in prison, the case’s court docket first showed Tuesday.
The 31-page grand jury report alleges that Parker failed to protect the 15 children, ages 6 and 7, in teacher Abigail Zwerner’s class. It says Zwerner was injured by one of her 6-year-old students despite multiple warnings from staff members and other students who believed the boy had a gun and posed an imminent threat on the day of the shooting.
“Dr. Parker’s lack of response and initiative given the seriousness of the information she had received on January 6, 2023 is shocking,” the report says.
Police respond to a shooting at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Va., in January 2023.Billy Schuerman / The Virginian-Pilot/TNS/via Getty Images file The report provides further details about the events leading up to the shooting and during it, among them that after the boy shot Zwerner at less than 6 feet away, he tried to fire again but was thwarted.
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