An elementary school educator, who became the victim of a classroom shooting by a six-year-old student, has secured a $10 million settlement, significantly less than her original claim.
In January 2023, Abigail Zwerner endured gunshot injuries to her chest and hand after a young boy brought his mother’s firearm to school and shot her.
Zwerner initiated a $40 million lawsuit against Ebony Parker, the assistant principal at the Virginia school, for failing to heed warning signs before the incident occurred.
However, the jury awarded her damages amounting to $30 million less than the original lawsuit sought in civil court.
Four months following the shooting, Zwerner filed a lawsuit against the Newport News Public School Board and other school officials.
Ultimately, a judge dismissed all other defendants from the case, leaving the former assistant principal as the sole defendant to face trial.
Zwerner’s attorneys argued that Parker failed to protect a teacher that day. During the trial, Zwerner testified that a reading specialist at the school had notified her that students had been discussing a gun earlier in the day.
The shooting also occurred on the student’s first day back in the classroom after he was suspended for slamming Zwerner’s phone.
Abigail Zwerner was awarded $10 million after she sued her former assistant principal for failing to protect her when a student fired a weapon in her class
Zwerner initially filed the lawsuit seeking $40 million in damages (Pictured: Zwerner with her mother Julie and sister Hannah)
Former Richneck Elementary School assistant principal Ebony Parker was the only defendant who faced trial in the civil lawsuit
Zwerner’s lawyers argued that the boy had a ‘history of random violence’ and the teacher had told Parker earlier that day that he was in a ‘violent mood.’
During recess, Zwerner became suspicious that the student had a weapon and informed two other teachers.
Another teacher searched the student’s bag, but didn’t find anything. Parker decided not to search the boy’s pockets because she believed they were too small to hold a gun.
The lawsuit also alleged that another school employee informed Parker that a child claimed to have seen the gun, but no further action was taken.
One of Zwerner’s attorneys, Diane Toscano, said in her opening statement that Parker made ‘bad decisions and choices’ on the day the teacher was shot.
During the trial, the jury saw harrowing footage from a police officer’s body camera of Zwerner after the attack.
She was seen lying on the floor as first responders tended to her bloody gunshot wound. Zwerner was seen in pain as a stretcher carried her out of the building.
Zwerner passed out in the school office after she escorted the rest of the students out of the classroom. She testified during the trial that she thought she had died.
Zwerner was hospitalized for nearly two weeks after the shooting, required six surgeries and still does not have full use of her left hand. A bullet also remains in her chest
Zwerner testified in court that she thought she had died and gone to heaven after she was shot (Pictured: Zwerner with her mother)
‘I thought I was either on my way to heaven, or in heaven,’ Zwerner told the jury.
The elementary school teacher was hospitalized for two weeks after the incident and endured six surgeries.
She testified that she still doesn’t have full use of her left hand, and a bullet remained in her chest.
Doctors on her medical team also took the stand to inform jurors of the severity of Zwerner’s injuries, including her lack of grip strength.
Parker’s legal team argued that no one could’ve foreseen the chilling events that transpired when Zwerner was shot.
Daniel Hogan, one of Parker’s lawyers, argued: ‘No one could have imagined that a six-year-old, first-grade student would bring a firearm into a school.’
‘You will be able to judge for yourself whether or not this was foreseeable. That’s the heart of this case.’
Hogan urged the jurors not to judge Parker’s actions based on hindsight and to consider the circumstances at the time the assistant principal made her decisions.
After the trial concluded, Jeffrey Breit, one of Zwerner’s attorneys, said at a press conference that the case shows the broader importance of school safety.
Zwerner’s lawyers said after the verdict that the case sends a message about school safety
‘And if this doesn’t send a message to the schools of America that teacher safety and children’s safety from weapons is too important to make it a second thought,’ he said.
‘It needs to be the most important thing schools do — taking care of the teachers and safety of our students.’
Even though the civil case has wrapped up, Parker still faces a criminal trial, where she faces eight felony counts of child abuse and neglect, one count for each bullet in the boy’s gun.
The criminal trial is set to begin on November 17. The boy’s mother, Deja Taylor, pleaded guilty to felony child neglect and was sentenced to two years in prison in 2023.
Criminal charges were never filed against the student. The Daily Mail has reached out to Zwerner and Parker’s attorneys for comment.
