$40 million lawsuit from a teacher shot by a six-year-old student

Abigail “Abby” Zwerner, who works at Richneck Elementary School in Virginia, USA, was shot in the upper chest and hand on January 6 and was hospitalized for two weeks.

According to the Times, the 25-year-old schoolteacher had 4 surgeries after she was shot by a 6-year-old student.

According to investigators, the firearm belonged to the boy’s mother and had been purchased legally.

Despite being injured, Zwerner managed to get his class of about 20 students to safety before calling for help. “He’s a soldier, he’s a hero,” Police Chief Steve Drew said after the incident.

Zwerner claimed that school administrators ignored many examples of the boy’s behavior. The lawsuit says the same boy “strangled” his kindergarten teacher last year, mistreated staff and chased students with belts to whip them.

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The boy’s family said he suffered from “acute disability” and rarely went to school without his parents.

According to the file, the boy had taken Zwerner’s cell phone and smashed it into the ground two days before he was shot. He received a one day suspension for this.

After the attack, the school administration fired the principal and the deputy principal resigned. However, no one has ever been charged with a crime.

“All of the defendants knew that the boy had attacked students and teachers alike, and his motivation to harm was directed at anyone who got in his way, both inside and outside of school, and was not limited to teachers. while they were at school,” the file says. .

According to the lawsuit, Zwerner is seeking compensatory damages of $40 million for permanent injuries, physical pain, mental suffering, lost income and other damages.

According to the Everytown gun safety group, at least 63 shots were fired by children in the United States in 2023, resulting in 25 deaths and 39 injuries.