On Wednesday, the lawyer for Richneck Elementary School teacher Abigail Zwerner alleged that administrators had been warned on three separate occasions about a first-grade student carrying a gun yet failed to take any action before the student shot his teacher.
The Associated Press reported, according to Diane Toscano, the attorney, school administrators were informed of the danger but refused to call police or put the school into lockdown. Consequently, Ms. Zwerner was shot by a 6-year-old boy while teaching on January 6th and will now be suing the Newport News school district as a result.
#BREAKING: Abby Zwerner’s attorney, Diane Toscano, reveals damning new details of what transpired on the day Abby was shot by her 6yo student. She says school admins ignored MULTIPLE concerns about an imminent threat raised by students AND staff. Listen to her timeline (part 1): pic.twitter.com/Br5zDgMAyA
— Sarah Chakales (@sechakales) January 25, 2023
On that day, according to Diane Toscano, “three different times – three times – school administration was warned by concerned teachers and employees that the boy had a gun on him at the school and was threatening people. But the administration could not be bothered”.
Superintendent George Parker reported to parents at an earlier meeting that at least one school official had known of a potential gun on campus prior to the shooting.
Abigail Zwerner had gone to an administrator around 11:15 a.m., mentioning that the 6-year-old was threatening another student – yet sadly no action was taken in response to her concern.
Around noon, one of Zwerner’s colleagues reported to an administrator that they had searched the student’s bookbag and suspected he had put a gun in his pocket before recess – only to be met with dismissal as they were told that the boy “has little pockets”.
An hour later another teacher approached an administrator informing them that the 6-year-old had showed a gun to another classmate and threatened them if they disclosed it – leading to their classmate crying and fearful yet still nothing being done by officials.
A different school employee alerted administrators of the potential danger posed by the boy having a gun at school, requesting for them to search him yet their request was allegedly refused.
At a news conference, Diane Toscano questioned what the school administrators had done in response to the threat posed by the 6-year-old student. She asked if they had called the police, locked down or evacuated the building or confronted the student – only to reveal that none of these steps had been taken.
At around 2:00 PM this same student aimed and fired one round into his 25-year-old teacher Abigail Zwerner’s chest. Zwerner has since been hospitalized for two weeks before returning home to recover.
