‘I thought I was dying’ - teacher shot by 6-year-old student testifies against school administrator

A former Virginia schoolteacher who was shot by a 6-year-old student two years ago took the stand for an emotional day of testimony at a civil trial against a school administrator.

Abigail Zwerner was seriously wounded and ended up having multiple surgeries. “I thought I was dying, I thought I had died,” she testified. “I thought I was on my way to heaven or in heaven, but then it all got black.”

Ms Zwerner filed a $40m (£31.5m) lawsuit against the former assistant principal of the school Ebony Parker, saying Ms Parker failed to act when she was allegedly warned that the young boy may have brought a gun to school that day. Ms Parker's lawyer said she could not have known what would happen.

In January of 2023, the child fired a single shot at Ms Zwerner as she was teaching her first-grade class at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia. The bullet went through her hand and into her chest.

"The look on the student's face is the large memory that I have," Ms Zwerner said.

Ms Parker is accused of being warned of the gun some 45 minutes before.

Ms Zwerner said she remembers two coworkers putting pressure on the wound. That was the moment she realized she was injured, Ms Zwerner testified.

The former school teacher, who took the stand after her mother and sister, explained to the jury how she has struggled in the wake of the shooting.

“The best I can explain it, I still feel connected and close, but it’s also that feeling of distance, a little numbness and it’s like I know I trust the person I’m with, I love them, I know them, there’s just something that’s different, I can’t necessarily put it into words,” Ms Zwerner testified.

Because of her physical injuries, she testified that she can’t do little things like open a bag of potato crisps or open a water bottle.

The lawsuit accuses Ms Parker of committing "a willful act or omission in the care" of students at the elementary school that was "so gross, wanton, and culpable as to show a reckless disregard for human life".

It also outlines one instance in which Ms Zwerner allegedly told Ms Parker that the child was in a "violent mood" and had made threats against another child.

Ms Parker allegedly "had no response" and refused to "even look up" when concerns about the child were brought to her.

Daniel Hogan, Ms Parker's attorney, said while giving his opening remarks that the case was one of "hindsight bias" .

"No one could have imagined that a 6-year-old first grade student would bring a firearm to an elementary school," he said.

He said the jury hearing the case will have to answer "hard questions": "Is it really foreseeable that a 6-year-old child would shoot their own teacher? Was that reasonably foreseeable? Was Dr. Parker indifferent? Did she fail to exercise at least some degree of care, even if it didn't work out? Did Abby Zwerner fail to take steps for her own safety?"

A criminal case will follow the civil trial. Ms Parker faces eight counts of felony child neglect which is punishable by five years in prison.

The student’s mother was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for child neglect and federal weapons charges.

The student was not charged with wrongdoing and is reportedly in the care of a relative and enrolled at a different school.