A Virginia elementary school teacher who was shot by her 6-year-old student described the terrifying moment she believed she had died after being struck in the hand and chest during class.
Abby Zwerner, a former first-grade teacher at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, recalled that the shooting happened so suddenly she felt her body shutting down. “The last thing I remember at the school, I thought I was dying. I thought I had died,” she said during her court testimony.
Newly released bodycam footage shows emergency responders rushing Zwerner out of the classroom as she bleeds heavily from her wounds. The bullet remains lodged near her heart, and doctors say removing it could be life-threatening. Since the attack, she has undergone multiple surgeries and continues to experience chronic pain and limited movement in her hand.
Zwerner has filed a $40 million lawsuit against former assistant principal Ebony Parker, accusing her of negligence for ignoring repeated warnings from staff that the student had a firearm on campus. Several employees reportedly told administrators earlier that day that the child was threatening others, but no action was taken.
The child’s mother later admitted to illegally obtaining the firearm and was sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison. Parker, meanwhile, faces multiple counts of child neglect related to the incident.
The shocking case has reignited national debate over school safety and gun storage laws. Zwerner, who has since left teaching and begun training as a cosmetologist, says she still struggles with the emotional trauma and physical pain from the shooting. “It changed my life forever,” she said. “There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t relive that moment.”