OAN Staff
Katherine Mosack and Brooke Mallory
2:13 PM Thursday, October 30, 2025
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**Virginia Teacher Shot by 6-Year-Old Testifies in $40 Million Negligence Lawsuit Against Former Assistant Principal**
Abigail Zwerner, a Virginia teacher who was shot in the hand and chest by a 6-year-old student in 2023, testified this week in her $40 million negligence lawsuit against former Richneck Elementary assistant principal Ebony Parker.
In January 2023, Abigail Zwerner, then 25, taught first grade at Richneck Elementary School when the student abruptly fired a gun at her. The bullet passed through her hand and into her chest, where it remains to this day due to the possible risks involved in removing it.
Months later, Zwerner filed a $40 million lawsuit against assistant principal Ebony Parker, who has since resigned from the school. The first-grade teacher argues that Parker failed to act despite multiple staff warnings about the student’s possession of a gun and did not intervene when alerted that the child had brought a firearm to school.
Another first-grade teacher, Jennifer West, also claimed she reported to school administration and a counselor that one of her students had seen the boy with a gun and bullet after recess. The counselor, Rolonzo Rawles, then requested permission from Parker to search the boy. However, the vice principal told him the search would have to wait until the child’s mother arrived.
Additionally, Amy Kovac, a reading specialist at the school, testified that she overheard Zwerner warning Parker that the boy had threatened another student and was behaving aggressively toward a security officer at lunch. Despite this, Parker “didn’t even look up at the teacher” during the conversation, seemingly ignoring her, Kovac added.
Zwerner’s lawsuit accuses Parker of negligence “so gross, wanton, and culpable as to show a reckless disregard for human life.” The complaint notes that Zwerner told the assistant principal the 6-year-old was in a “violent mood” at the time, but Parker still didn’t “even look up,” consistent with Kovac’s recollection.
The complaint emphasizes that had Parker acted on the clear warning signs that the student posed a threat, the shooting could have been prevented.
“I thought I was dying, I thought I had died,” Zwerner testified on Thursday. “I thought I was on my way to heaven or in heaven, but then it all got black.”
Zwerner underwent multiple surgeries after being rushed to the hospital. She testified that she still struggles with simple tasks like opening potato chip bags and water bottles due to her injured hand.
During the trial, Parker’s attorney suggested that Zwerner could have done more regarding the boy’s gun. Zwerner responded that she “didn’t think twice,” as she felt safe trusting that school administrators would handle the threat.
“It was my understanding that the administration wouldn’t think twice as well when alerted about a potential gun in school,” she said.
“Who would think a 6-year-old is going to bring a gun to school and shoot their teacher?” posed Daniel Hogan, Parker’s attorney. “Is it really foreseeable that a 6-year-old child would shoot their own teacher? Was that reasonably foreseeable? Was Dr. Parker indifferent? Did she fail to exercise at least some degree of care, even if it didn’t work out? Did Abby Zwerner fail to take steps for her own safety?”
Zwerner’s lawyer, Diane Toscano, countered in opening statements on Tuesday: “Parker’s job is to believe that is possible.”
A GoFundMe campaign was set up by Hannah Zwerner, the teacher’s twin sister, who also testified Thursday.
“If you’re looking for ways to help, I am creating this fund to help aid in Abby’s healing. Its purpose is to cover future living expenses as Abby recovers from this tragedy,” she wrote on the GoFundMe page.
This civil trial is only one part of the legal proceedings Parker faces. A criminal trial will follow, as she has been indicted on eight felony counts of child neglect related to the incident, each punishable by up to five years in prison.
The now-9-year-old boy has not been charged and is currently living with family while attending another school.
According to search warrants, the child reportedly found the gun in his mother’s purse and told a counselor who assessed him, “I shot that [expletive] dead” and “I got my mom’s gun last night.”
His mother, Deja Taylor, previously pleaded guilty and is serving time in prison for child neglect. Before pleading guilty, Taylor lied on the ATF form she completed when purchasing her firearm, claiming “she was not an unlawful user of marijuana or other controlled substances,” despite police discovering an ounce of marijuana in her bedroom and evidence of frequent drug use in cell phone messages.
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