Former Ass't Principal In Deep Doo Doo re: 6-Year-Old Who Shot His Teacher

A former assistant principal at the school where a six-year-old shot his teacher is now headed to trial for her stunning failure to act before the nightmare unfolded.

Ebony Parker faces trial in Newport News, Virginia. She stands accused of blowing off multiple warnings that a six-year-old student had brought a loaded firearm to Richneck Elementary School in January 2023, right before he shot his first-grade teacher, Abby Zwerner.

Prosecutors hit Parker with eight counts of felony child neglect, one for each bullet in the gun the kid carried into the building. If convicted, she could spend up to five years behind bars.

Court documents charge that Parker “did commit a willful act or omission in the care of such students, in a manner so gross, wanton and culpable as to show a reckless disregard for human life.”

Cases like this, where school officials actually face criminal charges after a shooting, remain incredibly rare. But this one exploded into the national spotlight, as Americans rightly demanded answers for how a first-grader managed to sneak a gun into school without anyone stopping him.

Zwerner, who survived the horror, sued the Newport News public school system. She accused Parker of ignoring repeated alerts that the boy was armed. Zwerner is also expected to take the stand in the criminal case against her former boss.

The shooting happened while Zwerner was seated at a reading table. The boy had taken his mother’s 9mm pistol from home, stuffed it in his backpack, and opened fire. One round struck the teacher in the hand and chest. She spent nearly two weeks in the hospital, endured six surgeries, and still has the bullet lodged in her chest. Despite everything, she managed to get her students to safety before collapsing.

A jury later awarded Zwerner $10 million. The lawsuit laid out how Parker had a clear duty to protect her and the rest of the school after multiple staff members reported the student had a gun in his backpack.

The boy’s mother has already been locked up for nearly four years after pleading guilty to felony child neglect and federal weapons charges.

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