NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Virginia prosecutors announced Thursday they will pursue a case against a former assistant principal charged with felony child neglect at an elementary school where a 6-year-old shot and killed a teacher last year, and the possibility that others may shoot and kill the teacher. suggested that there is. Charges will be filed as the investigation progresses.
A day after the release of a special grand jury report outlining the case against former administrator Ebony Parker, Newport News Commonwealth's Attorney Howard Gwynn told reporters he was “confused” by the findings. “But he believes the accusations are justified.” He added that he had not sued any school administrators in connection with the incident or heard of any charges being filed, but “we will go wherever the facts lead.”
“I never thought this was precedent-setting,” Gwynn said. “I simply think about this as I work. Therefore, whether there is precedent or not, it is not very relevant to our activities and does not affect any decisions we make. .”
The Jan. 6, 2023, shooting at Rich Neck Elementary School in Newport News drew national attention to school safety, and when police said the child's actions were intentional, the community Society was shocked.
Legal experts say it remains rare for parents, administrators or other adults to be prosecuted when children commit gun violence at school. However, the recent manslaughter trial against the parents of a teenage school shooter in Michigan who killed four of his classmates is the first time in the United States that parents have been held criminally responsible for a mass shooting by their child. Some believe this could set a legal precedent that could lead to similar cases. Prosecution.
Gwynn said there is a message to be sent if charges are filed in the aftermath of a school shooting: “The safety of our children and our staff and administrators must be taken seriously.”
“Everything you do and say sends a message,” Gwynn said of school officials, adding that it should be: “And what message do you want your actions to send?” We know this is a dangerous situation. So we must do everything we can to protect you. Because that's what we signed up for. ”
In Newport News, an anonymous 6-year-old student shot and killed teacher Abigail Zwirner with a 9mm handgun as she sat at the reading table in her first-grade classroom. Although she was seriously injured, she survived and managed to escort about 15 students from her class to safety, police said.
The grand jury report said that on the day of the shooting, Parker, who was then an assistant principal at Rich Neck School, was told by other staff members and students that the child was a “potentially dangerous threat.” He was informed several times.
“Given the seriousness of the information she received on January 6, 2023, Dr. Parker's response and lack of initiative are shocking,” the report said, adding that it was an “inevitable situation”. Ta.
Parker, who resigned after the shooting, was charged with eight felony counts of child abuse, each charge representing the number of bullets the boy had in his gun, Gwinn said. She appeared in Newport News Circuit Court early Tuesday for a hearing with her attorney, and another hearing was scheduled for next month before trial.
If convicted, each charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
It is unclear whether she has already entered a plea, and her attorney was not available for comment after the hearing.
The 11-member grand jury that indicted the case in September said it heard from 19 witnesses, reviewed hundreds of school records and watched police body camera and other videos to reach its decision. Ta.
The report provides additional details about the events leading up to and during the shooting, including that the boy shot Zwerner from less than 6 feet away and then attempted to shoot again. However, it includes things that were prevented.
“The child continued to stare at her without changing his emotional expression as she attempted to shoot him again,” the report states. “Due to his lack of force with the first shot, the firearm jammed and he was unable to shoot Mr. Zwerner or anyone else again. If the firearm had not jammed, the firearm contained seven additional rounds. It had a full magazine of bullets and was ready to fire.”
Gwynn said Thursday that she found other details and claims in the report disturbing. These include how the students were too traumatized to transfer to another school after the shooting, and how the 6-year-old boy's friends tried to warn adults at the school about the shooting. He held a gun and said, “I feel guilty that no one listened to them today.”
He added that an investigation into missing documents regarding student conduct files is underway.
In the days before the shooting, the grand jury report said the boy was “defiant at recess,” “constantly talked back to Zwerner,” and that the boy had been disciplined, including slamming his cell phone on the ground while reading, causing the screen to crack. It points out the problem above. and said bad things about her. After that incident, he was suspended for one day.
Gwinn said his office is working with school leaders to find out what happened to the missing documents in their files, and that if it turns out someone took them illegally, ” I want you to believe me when I say, 'I'm going to press charges.''
The Newport News Public Schools Board of Education said in a statement Thursday that the district has implemented several changes in response to the shooting and “will continue to do so.” The district installed metal detectors in all schools and brought in new leaders.
“The safety of our students and staff remains the school board's top priority,” the school board said in a statement.
Immediately after the shooting, Gwynn told NBC News that she would not seek charges against the 6-year-old boy, citing his age and inability to fully understand the legal system, but did not know whether any charges would be filed. said it is still under consideration. Adults are criminally responsible.
The boy's family said he had an “acute disability” and was receiving “necessary treatment” under court-ordered temporary detention at a medical facility.
A year ago, Gwynn also called for a grand jury to decide charges against the boy's mother, Dejah Taylor. She was sentenced to two years in prison in December on a state charge of felony child neglect and must begin her state sentence after serving 21 months on a related federal charge.
Three months after the shooting, Zwirner also filed a $40 million lawsuit against the school district, alleging that administrators, including Parker, failed to heed warnings. The grand jury's conclusions are similar to her complaint.
Zwerner resigned after filing the lawsuit.
At a news conference Thursday, an attorney for the 26-year-old Zwerner said she has cooperated “to the fullest extent possible” with the criminal investigation and criticized the grand jury's decision to indict school administrators who “failed to act.” I welcomed it.
They said that before the shooting occurred that day, Zwirner tried to tell Parker that he was concerned about the boy's “aggression” and that Parker “did not look away from the computer screen.” He said he was concerned about what the jury had pointed out. Some people tried to warn Parker, who believed the boy had a weapon, but she did not intervene, the report said.
“When someone comes into your office and says there's a gun on campus, it's natural to look away from your computer screen,” attorney Kevin Biniazan said. “Whatever it is, it behooves us to take immediate action. And it's an unusual danger, it's not normal, it's not expected. This is something that requires an immediate response from the administration. “A necessary risk, and the special grand jury report reveals that” did not occur. ”
Zwerner's other attorney, Diane Toscano, said she learned several new details in the grand jury report, including how the boy tried to fire the gun again but the bullet jammed.
“It was hard to read knowing he tried to shoot again,” she said.
Owen Hayes reported from Newport News, Eric Ortiz from New York and Julia Jester from Washington.