Former assistant principal in Virginia set for trial 3 years after
6-year-old student shot teacher
[May 18, 2026]
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) — A former assistant principal at
an elementary school in Virginia is due in court for trial, accused of
ignoring warnings that a 6-year-old student brought a loaded gun to
school that was later used to shoot his first-grade teacher.
Ebony Parker's criminal trial is set to start Monday in Newport News,
Virginia.
Parker is charged with eight counts of felony child neglect, one for
each of the eight bullets in the gun that was brought into the classroom
of Richneck Elementary schoolteacher Abby Zwerner in January 2023,
prosecutors have said. Each count carries a maximum penalty of five
years in prison upon conviction.
The charges allege Parker “did commit a willful act or omission in the
care of such students, in a manner so gross, wanton and culpable as to
show a reckless disregard for human life,” according to court documents.
Criminal charges against school officials following a school shooting
are quite rare, experts say. The shooting sent shock waves through this
military shipbuilding community and the country at large, with many
wondering how a child so young could gain access to a gun and shoot his
teacher.
Last November a jury awarded $10 million to Zwerner, siding with her
claims in a lawsuit that Parker, an ex-assistant principal, ignored
repeated warnings that the child had a gun.
Zwerner was shot as she sat at a reading table in her classroom. Sher
spent nearly two weeks in the hospital, required six surgeries and does
not have the full use of her left hand. A bullet narrowly missed her
heart and remains in her chest.
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Former Richneck Elementary School assistant principal Ebony Parker
looks back into the courtroom during Abby Zwerner's lawsuit against
her on Oct. 28, 2025, in Newport News, Va. (Stephen M. Katz/The
Virginian-Pilot via AP, Pool, File)
Parker was the only defendant in the lawsuit. A judge previously
dismissed the district’s superintendent and the school principal as
defendants.
The lawsuit said Parker had a duty to protect Zwerner and others
from harm after being told about the gun. Zwerner’s attorneys said
Parker failed to act in the hours before the shooting after several
school staff members told her that the student had a gun in his
backpack.
Zwerner testified she first heard about the gun prior to class
recess from a reading specialist who had been tipped off by
students. The shooting occurred a few hours later. Despite her
injuries, Zwerner was able to hustle her students out of the
classroom. She eventually passed out in the school office.
Zwerner is scheduled to testify in the criminal case, according to
court records.
The student’s mother was sentenced to nearly four years in prison
for felony child neglect and federal weapons charges. Her son told
authorities he climbed to the top of a dresser to retrieve the gun
from his mother's purse.
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