Ex-assistant principal faces trial after six-year-old shot Virginia teacher
Ebony Parker is accused of ignoring warnings that the student brought a loaded gun to a US elementary school
A former assistant principal at an elementary school in Virginia is due in court for trial on criminal charges of ignoring warnings that a six-year-old student brought a loaded gun to school which was later used to shoot his first-grade teacher.
Ebony Parker’s criminal trial is set to start on Monday in Newport News.
Parker is charged with eight counts of felony child neglect, one for each of the eight bullets in the gun that was brought into the classroom of Abby Zwerner, a Richneck elementary school teacher, in January 2023, prosecutors have said. Each count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison upon conviction.
The charges allege 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”, according to court documents.
Criminal charges against school officials following a school shooting are quite rare, experts say. The shooting sent shock waves through this military shipbuilding community and the country at large, with many wondering how a child so young could gain access to a gun and shoot his teacher.
Last November, a jury awarded $10m to Zwerner, siding with her claims in a lawsuit that Parker, an ex-assistant principal, ignored repeated warnings that the child had a gun.
Zwerner was shot as she sat at a reading table in her classroom. She 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.
Parker was the only defendant in the lawsuit. A judge previously dismissed the district’s superintendent and the school principal as defendants.
The lawsuit said Parker had a duty to protect Zwerner and others from harm after being told about the gun. Zwerner’s attorneys said Parker failed to act in the hours before the shooting after several school staff members told her that the student had a gun in his backpack.
Zwerner testified she first heard about the gun prior to class recess from a reading specialist who had been tipped off by students. The shooting occurred a few hours later. Despite her injuries, Zwerner was able to hustle her students out of the classroom. She eventually passed out in the school office.
Zwerner is scheduled to testify in the criminal case, according to court records.
The student’s mother was sentenced to nearly four years in prison after pleading guilty to felony child neglect and federal weapons charges. Her son told authorities he climbed to the top of a dresser to retrieve the gun from his mother’s purse.
The detail about parker was the only defendant in the lawsuit is something people should sit with.
Think about it: ebony Parker is accused of ignoring warnings that the student brought a loaded gun to a US elementary. That speaks volumes.
The fact that zwerner was shot as she sat at a reading table in her classroom really puts things into perspective.
If last November, a jury awarded $10m to Zwerner, siding with her claims in a lawsuit that Parker, an ex-assistant principal, ignored repeated warnings that the child had a gun, then the bigger picture starts to look very different.
Abby Zwerner has been vocal about this, good to see them staying on it.
Still waiting to hear what Ebony Parker actually plans to do about it.
Still waiting to hear what Last November actually plans to do about it.
Reading that parker was the only defendant in the lawsuit — hard to argue with the logic there.
Basically criminal charges against school officials following a school shooting are quite rare, experts say. What matters is whether anything changes because of it.
Last November has been pushing this agenda for a while now.
So the bottom line is criminal charges against school officials following a school shooting are quite rare, experts say. Wonder how this will land.
Considering last November, a jury awarded $10m to Zwerner, siding with her claims in a lawsuit that Parker, an ex-assistant principal, ignored repeated warnings that the child had a gun, it raises some real questions about what happens next.
What stands out is parker was the only defendant in the lawsuit. That is the part worth paying attention to.
When you look at zwerner was shot as she sat at a reading table in her classroom, the implications are hard to ignore.
If criminal charges against school officials following a school shooting are quite rare, experts say, then the bigger picture starts to look very different.