The former assistant principal of a Virginia elementary school where a 6-year-old boy shot and wounded his first-grade teacher has been indicted on eight felony counts of child neglect. Ebony Parker was found to have shown a reckless disregard for the safety of the other students at Richneck Elementary School during the incident in January 2023. Each charge is punishable by up to five years in prison. The shooting occurred when the boy fired a single shot at his teacher, Abigail Zwerner, during a reading class. Zwerner was shot in the chest and hand but has since recovered. The boy had accessed his mother’s 9mm handgun and concealed it in his backpack and pocket before shooting the teacher.
A lawsuit filed by Zwerner alleges that Parker ignored warnings from school employees about the boy’s behavior leading up to the shooting. These warnings included the boy being in a violent mood, making threats, and claiming to have a gun. Despite these warnings, Parker reportedly did not take any action to address the situation. The lawsuit also alleges that the boy had told students he had a gun, but Parker dismissed the concerns by stating that his pockets were too small to hold a handgun. The indictments against Parker accuse her of a willful act or omission that showed a reckless disregard for human life.
Deja Taylor, the mother of the 6-year-old shooter, was sentenced to two years in prison for felony child neglect in December 2023. She also received a federal prison sentence for using marijuana while owning a gun, totaling nearly four years behind bars. The lawsuit filed by Zwerner implicates the boy’s parents for not agreeing to put him in special education classes despite his behavioral issues. The failure in accountability at multiple levels that led to the shooting is noted in the lawsuit, with the Newport News School Board and former school officials named as defendants.
The indictments against Parker were issued by a special grand jury in March and unsealed in a court order in April. A warrant for Parker’s arrest was issued, but she has not been taken into custody yet. Parker resigned from her role after the shooting and is the first school official to be charged in the case. The mother of the shooter was previously sentenced and the superintendent of the school was fired by the school board. Zwerner no longer works for the school system or teaches following the incident. The civil lawsuit filed by Zwerner seeks to hold school leaders accountable for the failures that led to the shooting and almost resulted in her death.
The case highlights the importance of addressing warning signs and taking proactive steps to prevent such incidents in schools. School officials and administrators have a duty to ensure the safety of students and staff, and the indictments against Parker underscore the consequences of negligence in fulfilling this duty. The community continues to seek accountability for what happened at Richneck Elementary School, with legal actions being pursued in both criminal and civil courts. The aftermath of the shooting has had a lasting impact on the school system, with changes in leadership and policies to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
