Virginia teacher shot by student files lawsuit

(AP Photo/Marina Riker, File)

The tragic story of an elementary school student who shot his teacher inside the classroom continues to grow more bizarre. We recently learned that not only had there been warnings that the boy had brought a firearm to school, but three different people had issued a warning. They even searched the boy’s bookbag but failed to discover the weapon. This apparently came as a surprise to Abigail Zwerner, the teacher who was shot. And now she’s retained an attorney and is suing the school for not taking the appropriate actions that might have saved her from nearly being killed. (Associated Press)

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A Virginia teacher who was shot by a 6-year-old student during class will sue the school district, the teacher’s attorney announced Wednesday.

Diane Toscano, a lawyer for Abigail Zwerner, said Wednesday that on the day of the shooting, concerned teachers and employees warned administrators three times that the boy had a gun on him and was threatening other students, “but the administration could not be bothered.”

The boy shot Zwerner, 25, on Jan. 6 as she taught class at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, a city of about 185,000 people roughly 70 miles (113 kilometers) southeast of Richmond.

We see far too many cases around the country where people seem to be overly litigious, but this isn’t one of them. It’s bad enough that Abigail Zwerner had to limp along with a bullet in her chest, ushering the rest of her students away from danger before finally collapsing from blood loss. But then she has to be informed that at least three people reported that one of her students might have a gun and had even searched his bag, but nobody thought to inform her of those details. We also learned that the police were not informed in advance of the shooting. Yes, I would say that she has a very valid lawsuit and some people will need to be held accountable.

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In terms of accountability, the Assistant Principal at the school has now resigned. Dr. Ebony Parker “could not be reached for comment.”

The Assistant Principal at the Virginia school where a 6-year-old shot his teacher has resigned as allegations surface the administration failed to respond when warned about the armed student three times on the day of the shooting, The Post has learned.

Dr. Ebony Parker, the assistant principal at Richneck Elementary in Newport News, resigned, district spokesperson Michelle Price confirmed. Parker could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Another update of interest involves the parents of the boy who shot the teacher. The mother has told police that she had legally purchased the gun and that it was stored in her bedroom closet on a shelf that is more than six feet in the air. It was also fitted with a “trigger lock that required a key.” So how did the boy get it? I suppose a six-year-old could drag a chair over to the closet, but how did he get ahold of the key? The mother still has some explaining to do as far as I’m concerned.

The final update to mention here is the parent’s claims that their son has an “acute disability” that required one of the parents to attend school with him to ensure he was supervised. The week of the shooting was the first week of the school year when he was allowed to go to class by himself. This child was obviously disturbed and should have required even more safety precautions around a firearm than your average first-grader. Clearly, the entire system, both at home and in the school, collapsed. Multiple steps in the chain of events could have prevented Abigail Zwerner from being shot, but everything that could go wrong clearly did.

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