Teacher shot by 6-year-old boy warned it made her feel ‘uncomfortable’ in the classroom

The Virginia teacher who was shot by her 6-year-old student had raised the alarm about his behavior in the previous months, telling her superiors that she felt “uncomfortable” with him in her classroom.

Abigail Zwerner reported two incidents about the boy on Nov. 22 in an email chain, including one in which he gave a classmate the middle finger and another in which he pushed a student to the ground.

According to documents obtained by 13NewsNowZwerner told Richneck Elementary School staff in the Newport News: “As of today, I don’t feel comfortable with him coming back into my classroom today.”

He reported his concerns to Principal Briana Foster Newton and Assistant Principal Ebony Parker, who resigned shortly after the incident, less than two months before the boy shot him with a gun he had stolen from his mother.

The 25-year-old first-grade teacher, who survived the attack, suggested scheduling a meeting with the boy’s father to address his “behavioral difficulties” and offer him “support.”

On January 6, the boy opened fire with a .9mm Taurus pistol that had been legally purchased by his mother.

An hour before the shooting, Zwerner texted a loved one to say the boy had a gun in his backpack.

The bullet passed through one of Zwerner’s hands and struck the upper part of her chest, initially leaving her in a “life-threatening” condition. She was hospitalized for two weeks.

Police Chief Steve Drew has repeatedly characterized the shooting as “intentional.”

The boy’s family has claimed that he suffers from “acute disability” and was under a care plan at school.

It included his mother or father accompanying him to class every day.

The week of the incident was the first week they weren’t in class with him and they told the district, ‘We’ll be sorry we’re gone on this day for the rest of our lives.’

Zwerner is suing the school district because he alleges that administrators knew the boy was armed before the incident but “didn’t bother” to act.

But a lawyer acting on behalf of former principal Foster Newton claimed she had not been told the student had a gun on the day of the shooting.

“It continues to be reported that unidentified school administrators knew the 6-year-old student had a weapon at school on January 6 and simply failed to act,” attorney Pamela Branch told reporters last Thursday.

‘Lady. Newton has been assumed to be one of those administrators; However, this is far from the truth.

“The fact is that those who knew the student had a weapon on the premises that day did not inform Ms. Newton.”

Newton has not publicly commented on the incident.

Branch declined to say which administrators knew the boy had a gun, but claimed his client was unfairly blamed for failing to intercept the shooting.

Zwerner’s attorney, Diane Toscano, said higher-ups at the school knew the boy was armed, but no one had called police.

“That day, over the course of a few hours, three different times, three times, the school administration was tipped off by concerned teachers and employees that the boy had a weapon at school and was threatening people,” she said. Toscano at a press conference. .

‘But the administration couldn’t be bothered.’

Zwerner expressed concern about the six-year-old girl who shot Principal Briana Foster Newton, left, and Assistant Principal Dr. Ebony Parker, right.