The Virginia teacher who was shot by her 6-year-old student warned administrators about her behavior — including allegedly sticking her middle finger at one classmate and pushing another — and Said she felt “uncomfortable” returning to her classroom.
Teacher Abigail Zurner reported two troubling incidents in emails to her superiors on Nov. 22 involving a boy who allegedly shot her at Richnick Elementary School in Newport News. 13 News Now.
Zwerner said the boy stuck his middle finger with a classmate on Oct. 11 — and a month later “ran into class and bumped into a classmate” and then pushed the student to the ground.
“To this day, I do not feel comfortable returning to her classroom today…,” she wrote in an email to then-Principal Brianna Foster Newton and then-Assistant Principal Ebony Parker.
According to another email obtained by the news outlet on Nov. 22, Parker scheduled a meeting with the boy’s father to address “behavioral issues” and “put some things in place” to help the troubled student. Advised.
An hour before the shooting, Zwerner allegedly texted a loved one that the boy had a gun in his backpack.
After the incident, the boy’s family told the district that he had a “severe disability and was under a care plan at school in which either his mother or father walked him to school and in class with him every day.” were going.”
Abigail Zwerner said the boy stuck his middle finger with a classmate and pushed a student to the ground.
“I do not feel comfortable with him returning to my classroom today…,” Zwerner wrote in an email to the principal.
The principal suggested scheduling a meeting with the boy’s father to address “behavioral issues.”
He said the week of the incident was “the first week we were not in class with him. We will regret our absence for the rest of our lives.”
News of the email threads came after Foster Newton’s attorney said he was not informed that the student had a gun on the day of the shooting.
“It is being reported that unnamed school administrators knew that a 6-year-old student had a gun at school on Jan. 6 and simply failed to act,” attorney Pamela Branch told reporters last week.
A student holds a sign he made for teacher Abigail Zorner during a vigil.
A teacher speaks to attendees at the Newport News Public Schools administration building on Jan. 9.
Aid signs stand outside Richneck Elementary School.
“Mrs. Newton is believed to be one of those administrators. However, this is far from the truth,” he said. “The fact of the matter is that people who were aware that the student had a gun that day did not report it to Ms. Newton.”
Both Newton and Parker resigned after it was revealed that administrators had allegedly been warned three times that day about the boy being armed.
Zwerner’s attorney, Diane Toscano, has said that school staff alerted administrators that the boy was armed, but nothing was done.
He said Zwerner plans to sue the school district for the “entirely preventable” shooting.
Despite being hit in the chest and hand, the brave teacher still managed to get his students out of the classroom before being rushed to hospital.
The Virginia Senate passed a resolution praising Zurner’s bravery.
The resolution reads: “Despite suffering life-threatening injuries, Abby Zwerner led her students to safety in another room and was the last person to exit the classroom where the shooting occurred. No students were injured. ,” and “then alerted the school administrator to call for help,” According to the shop.
Authorities said the boy’s mother purchased the 9 mm gun legally and has not been charged with a crime.
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