Virginia Teacher Shot by 6-Year-Old Student Testifies ‘I Thought I Was Dead’
Graphic Content Warning: This article includes police body-camera footage from the aftermath of a school shooting.
A Virginia elementary school teacher, Abby Zwerner, who was shot by her 6-year-old student during a school shooting in 2023, has recounted the traumatic experience in court, describing moments where she believed she had died. The incident has led to a significant legal battle as Zwerner has filed a $40 million lawsuit against former school administrator Ebony Parker, who was allegedly negligent in failing to address multiple warnings about the child’s potential access to a firearm.
During her testimony, Zwerner described the moment when she locked eyes with the young student just before the gun went off, noting a “blank look” that she later realized was not blank at all. She described the bullet passing through her left hand and remaining in her chest, with the shot narrowly missing her heart. Zwerner has since suffered from severe physical and psychological after effects, including difficulty performing basic tasks like opening a small bag of potato chips and a lasting emotional trauma that has impacted her mental health and daily life.
Following the incident, Zwerner has taken a step away from teaching, having graduated from cosmetology school in pursuit of a new career in the beauty industry. The Newport News school district has faced mounting pressure for its handling of the situation, with attorneys for the district arguing that the shooting was an unforeseeable act by a child too young to be fully understood. However, prosecutors have charged Parker with eight counts of felony child neglect, one for each of the eight bullets that endangered all the students in Zwerner’s classroom.
The mother of the boy who shot Zwerner, Deja Taylor, was sentenced to two years in prison for felony neglect and federal weapons charges. The body-camera footage of the incident, which has been released for the first time, has captured the chaotic moments as officers and paramedics rushed to the scene to provide aid to Zwerner, who appeared in severe pain and had a pained expression on her face during the footage.
As the legal battle unfolds, the case has sparked a broader conversation about gun safety, school preparedness, and the need for improved procedures to prevent such incidents. The psychological and physical toll on Zwerner has only heightened the debate over the school’s response and the broader implications of the event for public safety and education systems in the United States.