A former teacher shot by student, 6, wins $10M jury verdict against ex-assistant principal

Source: The Associated Press, via WTOP

A former teacher shot by student, 6, wins $10M jury verdict against ex-assistant principal

The Associated Press
November 6, 2025, 12:55 PM


CORRECTS SHOOTING TO 2023, NOT LAST YEAR - FILE - Abby Zwerner, a teacher who was shot at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Va., by her 6-year-old student in 2023, talks to reporter Peter Dujardin, Jan. 3, 2024, in Virginia Beach, Va. (Stephen M. Katz /The Virginian-Pilot via AP)(AP/Stephen M. Katz

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) — A jury in Virginia on Thursday awarded $10 million to a former teacher who was shot by a 6-year-old student and later accused an ex-administrator in a lawsuit of ignoring repeated warnings that the child had a gun.

The jury returned its decision against Ebony Parker, a former assistant principal at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News.

Abby Zwerner was shot in January 2023 as she sat at a reading table in her first-grade classroom. She had sought $40 million against Parker in the lawsuit.

Zwerner spent nearly two weeks in the hospital, required six surgeries and does not have the full use of her left hand. A bullet narrowly missed her heart and remains in her chest.

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Read more: https://wtop.com/virginia/2025/11/a-former-teacher-shot-by-student-6-wins-10m-jury-verdict-against-ex-assistant-principal/