Newport News, VI: A grand jury determined that the assistant principal of an elementary school is responsible for the shooting that happened in the classroom in Newport News.
The incident involves a 6-year-old boy who fatally shot and injured his first-grade teacher last year. The assistant principal has been charged with eight felony offenses related to child negligence. Each of the counts carries a maximum prison sentence of five years.
According to released court documents, a special grand jury determined that Ebony Parker had a “reckless disregard for human life” at Richneck Elementary School on January 6, 2023, in Newport News, Virginia.
Abigail Zwerner, the teacher, also filed a lawsuit against Ebony Parker. Zwerner initiated a lawsuit worth $40 million, claiming that Parker disregarded multiple warnings regarding the presence of a firearm in the school on that particular day.
The kid shot the teacher in the chest and hand. The teacher survived despite life-threatening injuries.
According to the boy’s account, he took his mother’s 9mm handgun from a drawer. The gun was in a purse. The boy carried the gun in his backpack.
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The lawsuit outlines a sequence of cautions issued by school staff to administrators before the shooting. These warnings include Zwerner’s visit to Parker’s office, where she informed her that the boy was “in a violent mood,” and had made threats to physically assault another student, as reported by the Associated Press.
Parker immediately resigned from her position after the incident. The mother of the kid also has several police arrests and indictments.
Deja Taylor, the mother of the kid, received a two-year prison sentence in December 2023 for the offense of felony child maltreatment.