(The Lion) — A Virginia jury has awarded $10 million in damages to a former first-grade teacher who was shot by a 6-year-old student.
Abby Zwerner, 27, was wounded in January 2023 as she sat at a reading table in her first-grade classroom, reported local Fox DC 5.
The incident took place at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, where the student, who was armed with a 9mm handgun taken from his home, shot Zwerner in her hand and chest during class, The Lion reported.
A bullet remains lodged in her body, and she has undergone multiple surgeries.
“We’re very glad to finally be heard over these last two weeks,” said one of Zwerner’s attorneys, Diane Toscano, according to The Virginian-Pilot. “Today’s verdict is a major step in the road to Abby’s healing.”
“She’s pleased with the verdict,” added another Zwerner attorney. “The money obviously means that this jury knew it was a serious injury to her.”
Zwerner originally sought $40 million in her lawsuit filed against former Assistant Principal Ebony Parker, Superintendent Dr. George Parker and Richneck Principal Briana Foster-Newton.
Zwerner was fired by the district after she filed suit.
Previously, the court tossed parts of the lawsuit against Superintendent Parker and Foster-Newton but allowed the rest of the suit to continue.
The complaint alleged Ebony Parker ignored repeated warnings the young student had a weapon.
According to testimony, multiple staff members reported the child had a gun to the administrator, but no effective action was taken before the shooting, said Fox News.
Parker’s defense countered by arguing the event was unthinkable and any response must be judged based on the information available at the time, noting “it would be difficult for anyone to have foreseen” what happened subsequently.
During the trial, Zwerner testified she believed she had died after being shot.
“I thought I was dying, I thought I had died,” she told the jury of three men and six women, according to NBC News. “I thought I was on my way to heaven or in heaven. But then it all got black.”
Deja Taylor, the mother of the 6-year-old shooter, was already sentenced for illegal firearm possession and related violations in the case.
Taylor received a two-year state prison sentence for felony child neglect, along with an additional 21 months in federal prison for possessing a firearm while using marijuana.
The Lion reported a special grand jury concluded a criminal probe of several employees at Newport News Public Schools was in order based on evidence of a cover-up.
But some of the alleged wrongdoing found by the grand jury has reached the statute of limitations already.
The criminal case against Parker, however, will likely go to trial. Parker faces eight separate criminal charges for child neglect in connection to the incident. Each count could carry up to five years in jail, said court documents.
The potential cumulative sentence could reach 40 years if convicted on all charges and sentenced consecutively.
In closing arguments, before the jury awarded the $10 million to Zwerner, her attorney argued when a gun shows up at school, alarms should sound loudly.
“A gun changes everything,” the attorney said. “You stop and you investigate.”
