Virginia Teacher Shot by Six-Year-Old Student Wins $10Million in Lawsuit Against School Administrator

Abby Zwerner was shot in January 2023 as she was reading to her first-grade class at Richneck Elementary School in Virginia. A 6-year-old boy shot and wounded Zwerner with a handgun inside the classroom. The student had been suspended for slamming Zwerner’s phone a couple of days earlier. The child was later taken into police custody.

Zwerner sued Ebony Parker, former assistant principal of the elementary school, as well as the district’s superintendent and school principal. The latter two were dismissed prior to the trial. Zwerner accused Parker of ignoring repeated warnings that the student had a gun. The lawsuit claims Parker had a duty to protect Zwerner and others after Parker was told about the gun. Parker allegedly failed to act in the hours before the shooting after several school staff members told Parker that the student had a gun in his backpack.

Zwerner and Parker went to trial, where the jury awarded $10million to the former teacher. Zwerner testified she first heard about the gun prior to class recess from another staff member who had been tipped off by students. Zwerner spent nearly two weeks in the hospital, required six surgeries and does not have the full use of her left hand. Parker faces a separate criminal trial on eight counts of felony child neglect.

The student’s mother was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for felony child neglect and federal weapons charges.

The six-year-old stated he got his mother’s handgun by climbing onto a drawer to reach the firearm in his mother’s purse.

When Is a Person Responsible for the Criminal Acts of Another?

A person is negligent if they acted carelessly given the situation. The law considers whether a reasonable person in the same situation would have acted in the same manner as that person. If not, that person may be considered negligent.

Negligence has four parts:

• Duty
• Breach
• Causation
• Damages

Most cases involving criminal acts of a third party are about whether the criminal act was foreseeable on the part of the defendant. A criminal act is foreseeable if the defendant knew or should have known that the third party would act in that way. Criminal acts may include theft by property managers, sexual abuse by teachers or coaches, the killing or assault of another person by a security guard, police officer, or in this instance, a young student.

A bad actor is foreseeable if the defendant had actual knowledge. In sexual abuse cases, actual knowledge will arise if the defendant is directly notified that the abuser is engaging in abuse. At that point, the school district or sports team must investigate or take further action to avoid potential negligence. Likewise, if school staff discovers that there is a gun on campus, they must investigate and potentially remove the gun from campus or face a potential negligence lawsuit.  

Do I Need the Help of a Personal Injury Attorney?

If you have sustained a personal injury through the unlawful act of another, then you should contact a personal injury attorney. A skilled personal injury lawyer near you can review the facts of your case, go over your rights and options, and represent you at hearings and in court.