Newly released body-camera video captures the chaotic aftermath of a six-year-old shooting his teacher inside a classroom at Richneck Elementary School in Virginia.
The footage shows the child, identified only as J. T., sitting on the lap of reading specialist Amy Kovac as officers surrounded them at the Newport News school on January 6, 2023.
The boy had taken his mother’s 9mm handgun to school and fired at first-grade teacher Abigail Zwerner, striking her in the left hand and upper-left chest.
In footage obtained by the Virginian-Pilot and released publicly for the first time in three years, the child can be heard shouting profanities as officers attempted to place him in handcuffs.
Officer Brian Torrez’s body camera recorded the boy telling police, “I don’t care if I go to jail, b****,” while Kovac held him on her lap.
After an officer asked for his name, the six-year-old responded defiantly: “If you want a piece of me, come get it!”
The boy also pointed toward the firearm and told officers, “I stole that from my mom.”
He repeated his defiance, saying, “I don’t care if you call back up, I don’t care if I go to jail, b****,” according to the recording.
The Newport News Police Department released body-camera footage recorded during the Richneck Elementary School shooting earlier this week
“If you want a piece of me, come get it,” the six-year-old told officers in footage released by police
Body-camera video shows reading specialist Amy Kovac restraining the boy until officers arrived
First-grade teacher Abigail Zwerner was shot in the chest and hand after the boy brought his mother’s gun to school and opened fire
While keeping the boy restrained, Kovac admonished him, saying, “We know you know that language, and you know that’s not appropriate. Mrs. Kovac is not happy with that.”
The recording was made moments after the shooting, which left Zwerner with broken bones and a punctured lung.
Zwerner and her students escaped the classroom. Kovac then entered and found the boy alone, with the gun lying on the floor beside him, the outlet reported.
After leading the children to the school office, Kovac collapsed shortly afterward.
She remained with the boy until police arrived and continued holding him as officers questioned him, the footage shows.
Search warrants reviewed by CBS state that the boy also said he “shot that b***** dead” while officers restrained him.
Zwerner later filed a $40 million lawsuit against assistant principal Ebony Parker, alleging that Parker ignored earlier warnings from Zwerner and other teachers about the student’s violent behavior.
Criminal charges had previously been brought against Parker in connection with the shooting. She pleaded not guilty, and the charges were dismissed in May of this year.
She had been accused of failing to take any action to protect Zwerner or students after being warned multiple times about the six-year-old’s aggression.
Zwerner – the teacher who was shot by the young boy – testified that she told Parker about the boy’s ‘violent mood’ that day
Parker, who pleaded not guilty to the charges, had been accused of failing to take any action to protect Zwerner or students
Judge Rebecca Robinson dismissed the case against Parker, claiming the former assistant principal did not break the law.
‘If [Parker’s actions] are meant to amount to a crime, the legislature will need to codify it,’ the judge said.
‘Therefore, I do grant the defense motion to strike in full on all counts, all eight counts of felony child abuse and endangerment.’
Parker sobbed in court as the judge spoke, then walked out of the courthouse without speaking to reporters.
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Zwerner’s family issued a statement to the media saying she is ready to put this incident behind her.
‘We are happy that this tragic event is behind Abby,’ the statement, sent by Karen Piere, Abby’s aunt, said.
‘As devastating as this shooting was, may it bring change to the education system in our country so that violent children are not placed in a general education classroom, and I hope that administrators are held accountable if this were to happen again for violent behavior.’
Zwerner had testified in court that she told Parker about the boy’s ‘violent mood’ that day. She had also heard from Kovac that the child may have had a firearm.
The teacher said that Kovac went to report this to Parker. Later, at recess, Zwerner said she noticed that the boy was wearing an oversized jacket and holding his hands in his pockets for the whole time.
While at recess, the boy stared down the school security officer while Zwerner talked to her, she testified.
‘I witnessed the student was staring her down, very focused on her and he slowly got up from his seat and ever so slowly approached, still not breaking eye contact at the security officer and that stuck out to me as well,’ she said on the stand.
When they were back in class, the boy approached her with the gun in hand, she testified. She was then shot through her hand and chest, which led to permanent physical injuries.
‘I saw the student looking at me. I looked over. A gun was pointed right at me. He was holding a gun, the student. It was pointed right at me. And then I was shot,’ she said.
Last November, Parker was ordered to pay Zwerner $10 million in a gross negligence lawsuit, before her criminal charges were dropped.
In that lawsuit, Zwerner detailed telling Parker that the boy was in a violent mood, had threatened to beat up a kindergartener, and stared down a security officer in the lunchroom.
It also alleged that Parker had no response, refusing even to look up when Zwerner expressed her concerns.
When concerns were raised that the child may have transferred the gun from his backpack to his pocket, Parker said his ‘pockets were too small to hold a handgun and did nothing,’ the lawsuit states.
A guidance counselor also asked Parker for permission to search the boy, but Parker forbade him and stated that John Doe’s mother would be arriving soon to pick him up, the lawsuit stated.
Deja Taylor, the boy’s mother, seen arriving at federal court for a previous hearing on June 12, 2023, in Virginia Beach, Virginia
Zwerner was sitting at a reading table in front of the class when the boy fired the gun, police said.
She spent nearly two weeks in the hospital and has endured multiple surgeries as well as ongoing emotional trauma, according to her lawsuit.
Zwerner also claimed to not have full use of her left hand. A bullet also remains in her chest from the ordeal.
The shooting also occurred on the student’s first day back in the classroom after he was suspended for slamming Zwerner’s phone.
The boy’s mother, Deja Taylor, pleaded guilty to felony child neglect and was sentenced to two years in prison in 2023 after the shooting at the elementary school.
That was a harsher sentence than the six months prosecutors recommended as part of a plea deal that saw her misdemeanor charge for reckless firearm storage dropped.
The Newport News Circuit judge sentenced Taylor to five years in total, with three years suspended.
Taylor previously pled guilty to using marijuana while owning a gun and was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison in November 2023 on felony gun charges.
Authorities said she lied about her drug use on a federal background check form when she bought the gun that her son brought to school.
Taylor’s son is now in the custody and care of his great-grandfather and attending a new school in the region.
Criminal charges were never filed against the student.
