The shooting of a teacher by a six-year-old student in Virginia continues to rock the school district with more changes in leadership and staff.
The Newport News School Board voted 5-1 to remove Superintendent George Parker III from office following the Jan. 6 shooting of 25-year-old Abigail Zwerner by one of her own students. The shooting earlier this month, along with the 2021 shootings at Heritage and Menchville high schools, have outraged teachers, parents and community members.
The boy, who remains unidentified, brought his mother’s gun to class and shot Zwerner during a lesson at Richneck Elementary School. Zwerner was hospitalized for two weeks and is now recovering at home.
Now, Principal Briana Foster Newton and Assistant Principal Ebony Parker have left the school. A school district spokesperson said Newton remained a district employee, but did not disclose in what capacity, and Parker resigned from the school district.
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Former Richneck Elementary School Principal Briana Foster Newton in August 2022, ahead of the new school year.
(CREDIT: Twitter/@BriNewton_EDU)
The change in personnel follows news that Zwerner plans to sue the school district over the incident.
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Diana Toscano, who represents Zwerner, said concerned teachers and employees had warned administrators three times that the boy had a gun and had been threatening other students, “but the administration couldn’t be bothered.”
Abby Zwerner was shot in the abdomen on January 6 by a six-year-old student who had brought a gun to school.
(Facebook/Abby Zwerner)
Police said the boy’s mother had legally purchased the 9mm pistol used in the shooting, and the family said the gun had been “secured” in the mother’s closet on a shelf more than six feet high, with a trigger safety that required a key. .
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The family also said the boy had an “acute disability” that included an allowance for a parent to accompany him to class every day. The week of the shooting was the first time a parent was not present.
Djifa Lee, a second grade teacher at Saunders Elementary School, center, poses with her daughter as she speaks in front of the Newport News School Board on January 17, 2023, in Newport News, Virginia.
(Billy Schuerman/The Virginian-Pilot via AP, File)
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Emotional support services have been provided to students, families, and staff by district student support specialists, school social workers, or licensed therapists. Karen Lynch, who took over as school administrator, said in her letter to families that those services will continue when students return to school.
Louis Casiano and Greg Wehner of Fox News Digital and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
