A Virginia assistant principal dismissed multiple alerts from staff members about a 6-year-old carrying a weapon that was subsequently used to injure his teacher, according to prosecutors who spoke during Tuesday’s court proceedings.
The criminal trial began for Ebony Parker, facing eight felony child neglect charges stemming from the January 2023 incident at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia. The shooting injured first-grade educator Abby Zwerner while she was in her classroom.
Before the incident occurred, multiple school staff members informed Parker of their suspicions that the child was carrying a weapon in his backpack, but Parker reportedly responded that the student’s parent would arrive shortly for pickup, according to special prosecutor Josh Jenkins.
“Does she say ‘search the child’? No,” Jenkins told the jury. “Does she say ‘call the police,’ or does she call the police? No. Does she remove the child from the classroom and separate him? No.
“She didn’t even get up from her desk. She didn’t leave her office. Warning after warning after warning, she did nothing.”
However, Parker’s defense attorney, Curtis Rogers, argued that teaching staff should have taken action if they suspected a weapon was present, suggesting they should have at minimum removed the child from among approximately 19 other students in the room.
“That did not occur,” Rogers said. “Each one of those individuals had the authority to move those classmates.”
Rogers stated that prosecutors must demonstrate Parker’s behavior reflected reckless endangerment of lives. He instead attributed responsibility to Zwerner and other staff who had observed the child’s behavior before the shooting occurred.
“What about these other people who had direct contact with this child?” Rogers said.
The school’s protocols at that time mandated reporting crisis situations to administrative staff who were obligated to respond, Jenkins explained. A counselor had requested authorization to search the student, but Parker refused since only administrators or security personnel could conduct searches. The security officer was stationed at a different school during this time.
This meant Parker and the building’s principal were the only ones authorized to take action, but the principal remained unaware of the situation because Parker had not informed her, Jenkins stated.
“There was only one person in the school that day that had both the authority to act and the knowledge of the ongoing crisis, and that person, you will see, was Dr. Parker,” Jenkins said.
Zwerner testified as the initial witness in the proceedings. She described how the student had thrown her phone to the floor several days prior and displayed a “violent” demeanor on the day of the shooting.
While outside during recess, the student kept both hands inside the pockets of an oversized jacket throughout the entire period. Zwerner sent a text message documenting this observation to a reading specialist who had received earlier tips from students about the weapon and had reported this information to Parker.
Following recess, the student maintained the jacket in the classroom, where Zwerner sustained her injury at a reading table. Zwerner required hospitalization for almost two weeks, underwent six surgical procedures, and has lost complete function in her left hand. The bullet came close to striking her heart and remains lodged in her chest.
The eight charges Parker confronts include one count for each bullet contained in the weapon brought into the classroom, according to prosecutors. Each charge could result in up to five years of imprisonment if convicted.
Legal experts note that criminal prosecution of school administrators following shooting incidents is uncommon. The incident created widespread concern throughout this military shipbuilding community and nationally, raising questions about how such a young child obtained access to a firearm and harmed his educator.
A jury granted $10 million to Zwerner during a civil proceeding last November where Parker, who has since left the school, served as the sole defendant.
The student’s parent received nearly four years in prison for felony child neglect and federal weapons violations.
