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In 2023, an elementary school child in Virginia shot his teacher.
A newly released body camera video shows the aftermath, and clearly lends insight into the 6-year-old alleged shooter’s mental state.
The harrowing video shows the small child screaming and cursing.
Even as he identifies where the firearm is, he threatens to fight the police officers.
‘I don’t care if I go to jail’
On January 6, 2023, students and faculty at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia were still celebrating the New Year.
Then, a child allegedly shot his teacher, Abigail Zwerner.
As another teacher restrained the 6-year-old, emergency responders raced to the scene.
The disturbing, newly released bodycam footage shows an officer ask: “Where is the weapon?”
“It’s over there,” the child seemingly answers in the video. “If you want a piece of me, come it all, b–ch.”
“My mom had that,” the 6-year-old announced, in reference to the weapon.
He then declared: “I stole that from my mom.”
His clear emotional disturbance appeared to worsen as officers processed the scene.
“Both of y’all want a f–king piece of me, b–ches,” the 6-year-old yelled.
“I don’t care if you call backup,” he defiantly told officers. “I don’t care if I go to jail.”
Attorneys representing the school board argue that a teacher shot by a 6-year-old student is only entitled to file a worker’s compensation claim because the injury she sustained is a “workplace injury” and the shooting was a hazard of the job
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— Phil Lewis (@phillewis.bsky.social) August 12, 2023 at 4:00 PM
There was a civil suit, but someone else faced criminal charges
When the shooter fired, the bullet pierced the teacher’s hand before lodging in her chest.
Zwerner survived, but doctors advised her that they would have to leave the bullet in her chest. Removal was simply too risky.
There was a civil trial against Ebony Parker, the school’s former assistant principal.
The jury found that Parker had ignored warning signs that the child had a gun in his backpack. Zwerner was awarded $10 million plus interest in damages.
Parker was initially charged with criminal neglect, but the judge threw out the case — citing that she had committed no crime under Virginia law.
The 6-year-old’s face is blurred in video — by court order — and, for obvious reasons, his name is withheld.
However, the mother is Deja Taylor, who was arrested after the shooting on stage charges of felony child neglect and a federal weapons charge.
She was sentenced to two years for child neglect and 21 months for the federal charge.
Given the child’s actions, disposition, and vocabulary, this terrible crime appears to be a product of his environment.
There were multiple stages at which a shooting like this might be prevented. The most important would have been to address whatever would make a 6-year-old behave in a manner that usually only the most disturbed and volatile adults would.
This was a preventable tragedy.
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