(NEWPORT NEWS, Va.) -- A civil trial is underway in Virginia nearly three years after a then-6-year-old student shot his first grade teacher in an elementary school classroom.
The teacher, Abby Zwerner, is seeking $40 million over the January 2023 shooting at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, according to the civil complaint.
The complaint alleges that the school's assistant principal at the time, Ebony Parker, failed to act after being informed multiple times that the student had a firearm on the day of the shooting and did not let anyone search him despite repeated requests.
"Who would think a 6-year-old is going to bring a gun to school and shoot their teacher? Members of the jury, it's Dr Parker's job to believe that that is possible. It's her job to investigate it and to get to the very bottom of it," Zwerner's attorney, Diane Toscano, said during opening statements on Tuesday.
Toscano said jurors will hear from the defense that "Abby could have done more," but instead asked them to "notice each time Dr. Parker had a decision to make, what that decision was that Dr. Parker made, how many opportunities Dr. Parker had to prevent what happened on Jan. 6."
"I'm confident at the end of this, you'll have a clear picture of what happened and how that tragedy on Jan. 6 happened, minute by minute, decision by decision," Toscano said.
The student took the firearm out of his pocket and aimed it at Zwerner while she was seated in the classroom, according to the complaint. The bullet went through her hand and then into her chest, and Zwerner was initially hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, police said.
Toscano said jurors will hear how the shooting has "changed Abby's life forever," through testimony from doctors and her family members who cared for her, and the "pain and trauma" she continues to experience.
Parker's attorney, Daniel Hogan, called the negligence case "unusual" and discussed "hindsight bias" in his opening remarks.
"No one could have imagined that a 6-year-old first grade student would bring a firearm to an elementary school," he said.
He said the jury will have to answer "hard questions": "Is it really foreseeable that a 6-year-old child would shoot their own teacher? Was that reasonably foreseeable? Was Dr. Parker indifferent? Did she fail to exercise at least some degree of care, even if it didn't work out? Did Abby Zwerner fail to take steps for her own safety?"
The civil trial has been scheduled to run through Nov. 6, according to the online docket.
Three other defendants initially listed in Zwerner's complaint -- two other school administrators and the Newport News School Board -- have since been dismissed from the lawsuit.
Parker has also been charged with eight counts of felony child abuse with disregard for life in connection with the shooting -- one count for each bullet that was in the gun, according to the Newport News Commonwealth's Attorney's Office. A trial on the criminal charges is scheduled to start next month.
Parker resigned from her position shortly after the incident.
The civil complaint alleges Parker's administrative style was to "permit students to engage in dangerous and disruptive conduct and impose no consequence for breaking the rules, thereby placing all persons in the vicinity of the school and in the community at risk."
On the day of the shooting, two students told a school staffer that the 6-year-old student -- who Zwerner's attorneys are referring to as JT during the trial -- had a gun in his backpack, according to the complaint. When confronted, JT reportedly denied it but refused to provide the staffer with his backpack, according to the complaint.
During recess that day, Zwerner told the staffer she saw the student "take something out of his backpack before recess and place it into the pocket of his hoodie sweatshirt," according to the complaint. The staffer searched the backpack during recess but did not find a gun, according to the complaint. When the staffer reportedly told Parker that JT had "informed students that he had a gun" and no weapon was found in his backpack, Parker "did nothing," the complaint alleged.
According to the complaint, a classmate told another first grade teacher that JT had shown him the firearm during recess. After the teacher reported this to the school office, Parker allegedly did not allow anyone to search JT for the firearm, according to the complaint. Within an hour, the 6-year-old student shot Zwerner, according to the complaint.
The complaint alleges Parker acted with gross negligence and in "reckless disregard" for Zwerner's safety.
Zwerner has said she has undergone multiple surgeries following the shooting, has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression and has nightmares stemming from the incident.
Zwerner told Hampton, Virginia, ABC affiliate WVEC in an interview a year after the shooting she does not think she will be able to teach again due to the "anxiety, the PTSD and the fear."
The student brought the gun from home, police said. His mother, Deja Taylor, was sentenced to two years in state prison for child neglect in connection with the shooting, which she is currently serving. Taylor was also sentenced to 21 months in prison on federal firearm and drug charges, which she has since served.
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