Authorities at Richneck Elementary School in Newport, Virginia were warned three times in advance of first grade student that had obtained a gun and went on to shoot his teacher, according to a lawyer for that teacher.
The teacher, Abigail Zwerner, was “shot purposely” in the chest by a student in front of other students and her lawyer, Diane Toscano, claims the school administrators were warned ahead of the incident and ignored the threats.
On the day of the shooting, these warnings became known three hours in advance and nothing was done to prevent it, according to Toscano who has plans to file a lawsuit against the school district.
In a recently held press conference, Toscano said “This tragedy was entirely preventable if the school administrator responsible for school safety had done their part and taken action when they had knowledge of imminent danger.” Toscano did not provide details of damages being sought on behalf of the teacher.
In response to this event, a special school board meeting convened to fire the Superintendent, George Parker. The superintendent came under pressure after saying another administrator knew about the boy possibly having a gun in school.
According to the school board Chairwoman Lisa Surles-Law, “Dr. Parker is a capable division leader who has served Newport News for nearly five years through some extremely challenging circumstances. This decision is based on the future trajectory and needs of our school division.”
The first warning to an unnamed school administrator came from the teacher, claiming that the student threatened violence against another child, and he was not removed from class.
The second warning came from an additional teacher telling the same administrator they suspected the boy had a weapon or gun, searched his bag and found nothing, but believed he had hidden the gun before recess.
According to Toscano, another student told a third teacher that the boy showed an actual gun to them but was threatened with violence if he told anyone. This report was also told to school administrators.
The lawyer believes the school safety administrator denied permission for a teacher to search the boy and “he was told to wait the situation out because the school day was almost over. Tragically, almost an hour later, violence struck Richneck Elementary School.”
Police are investigating the incident and will present their findings to the commonwealth’s attorney in Newport, who ultimately will make a decision to file charges against the boy’s mother.