A former assistant principal at a Virginia elementary school where a 6-year-old student shot first-grade teacher Abigail Zwirner is now facing criminal charges.
A special grand jury in Newport News found that Ebony Parker showed “reckless disregard” for the welfare of students at Rich Neck Elementary School on Jan. 6, 2023, according to a criminal indictment unsealed Tuesday. did.
The complaint alleges that Parker, who was in charge of the Rich Neck students, “involved willful acts or actions in the care of such students in a manner so gross, unreasonable and culpable as to demonstrate a reckless disregard for human life.” “He committed a serious crime of omission.”
Parker, 39, is charged with eight felonies, each of which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
Attorney for Virginia teacher fatally shot by 6-year-old files $40 million lawsuit detailing allegations the school ignored warnings
In August 2022, just before the new school year, Brianna Foster Newton, former principal of Richneck Elementary School. (Twitter/@BriNewton_EDU)
Her attorney, Curtis Rogers, did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Mr. Parker and other school administrators are already defendants in a $40 million lawsuit brought by Mr. Zwirner, who claims Rich Neck staff ignored warning signs before the shooting. The complaint filed in Newport News Circuit Court alleges that other employees told Parker the boy might have a gun on the day of the shooting.
According to Newport News police, the student who shot Zwerner took his mother’s handgun from a dresser at home, hid it in his backpack, and brought it to school.
Zwerner’s lawsuit describes a series of warnings school officials gave administrators before the shooting. The warnings stemmed from Zwerner telling Parker that the boy was in a “violent mood,” threatened to hit a kindergartener and glared at a security guard in the lunchroom, according to the complaint. .
Virginia teacher shot by 6-year-old in classroom: ‘I’ll never forget his face’
Abby Zwirner, the teacher who was shot last year by a 6-year-old student at Rich Neck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, speaks with reporter Peter Dujardin on Wednesday in Virginia Beach, Virginia. (Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian Pilot, via AP)
Another teacher warned Parker that students had found the boy with a gun during recess, but the vice principal “forbidden” him from searching the boy’s backpack again, saying the boy’s pockets were too small. He is said to have said his mother would choose him because he thought he could not hide the handgun. upon termination, according to the complaint.
Police said the boy shot and killed Zwerner while he was sitting at the reading desk in front of his room during the second half of class. Zwerner said in an interview that the bullet went through his left hand, rupturing his middle bone, index finger and thumb. A gunshot then entered her upper chest, crushing one of her lungs.
Virginia teacher’s email reveals ‘behavioral issues’ of 6-year-old shot: report
Dejah Taylor, the mother of the boy who shot and killed Zwerner, was sentenced to two years in prison on felony neglect and federal weapons charges. (Newport News Police Department)
Zwerner’s lawsuit says she still suffers from emotional trauma and required two weeks in the hospital and multiple surgeries to recover.
“There are some things I’ll never forget, and I’ll never forget the look on his face when he pointed the gun directly at me,” Zwerner said on March 21. , told NBC. shooting. “It’s something I’ll never forget. It changed me. It changed my life.”
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Targets of Zwerner’s lawsuit, including the former superintendent and the Newport News School Board, are trying to block the lawsuit from proceeding. They argue that Zwirner’s injuries are covered under Virginia’s workers’ compensation law. But their attempts to block the lawsuit have so far failed, with a trial date set for January.
Dejah Taylor, the mother of the boy who shot and killed Zwerner, was sentenced to two years in prison for felony neglect. federal arms fee.
Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
