31.10.2025 15:11
Abby Zwerner, an elementary school teacher in the United States, was shot by a 6-year-old student in her classroom in January 2023. Zwerner spent about two weeks in the hospital following the incident and underwent six surgeries.
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New footage has emerged of the moments when a first-grade teacher in the U.S. was shot by her six-year-old student in her classroom.
The teacher, Abby Zwerner, was shot in the hand and chest while sitting at a reading table in her classroom at Richneck Elementary School in January 2023.
Police body camera footage shown in court reveals Zwerner lying on the ground in a pool of blood, with medical teams applying a bandage to a chest wound near her left shoulder and trying to stop the bleeding.
Zwerner, a first-grade teacher, appeared pale and was clearly in pain. She was taken out of the school on a stretcher and transported to the hospital. She spent about two weeks in the hospital, underwent six surgeries, and still cannot fully use her left hand. Additionally, a bullet remains lodged in her chest.
Zwerner, who thought she was dying at the moment of the incident, stated in court, "I thought I was either going to heaven or I was there. Then everything went dark, and I realized I wasn't going there. The next thing I remember is my two colleagues being by my side; I realized I was injured."
Zwerner has filed a $40 million lawsuit against the former assistant principal for allegedly ignoring multiple warnings that the student had a gun.
Doctors detailed the extent of Zwerner's injuries in court. One doctor stated that the teacher can no longer make a fist with her left hand and that her grip strength has decreased by more than half. Another noted that her fingers were nearly severed and that the bullet passed very close to her heart.
"This was more of a wound you would see on a battlefield than a normal injury," added another doctor.
The jury was shown images of the weapon used by the six-year-old student in the attack and the classroom where the incident occurred.
On the day of the incident, it was alleged that the school's former assistant principal, Ebony Parker, took no action despite warnings that there might be a gun in the student's backpack.
Zwerner's attorney, Diane Toscano, stated that Parker "made the wrong decisions that day." "Despite having the authority, she did not search the student, did not remove him from the classroom, and did not call the police," she added.
The defense argued that the student returned to school on the first day after being suspended for throwing the teacher's phone two days prior.
Parker's attorney, Daniel Hogan, said, "No one could have imagined that a 6-year-old child would bring a gun to school. You will assess whether this incident was foreseeable."
Parker argued that decision-making processes in public schools are "collaborative" and "cooperative," asserting that retrospective judgment should not be made based on information that emerged after the incident.
Parker, the sole defendant in the case, will also face trial next month on eight separate counts of child neglect. Each charge carries a potential sentence of up to five years in prison.
The student's mother received a nearly four-year prison sentence for charges of negligence and violating gun laws. The young child admitted to taking his mother's gun from a bag on top of a cabinet.
Abby Zwerner is no longer working at the school and does not plan to return to teaching. According to court statements, she is currently working as a licensed cosmetologist.
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