Ex-Assistant Principal Faces Felony Charges for Ignoring Warning After Warning About Armed Six-Year-Old Shooter

Ebony Parker (top, left) was a part of the administrative staff at the school on January 6, 2023 when first-grade teacher Abby Zwerner (top, right) was shot in her classroom while reading to her students.

According to the Special Grand Jury report out of Newport News, Virginia, regarding the shooting that happened at 1:50 p.m., the student “pointed [the gun] directly at Ms. Zwerner and, at less than six feet away, pulled the trigger and shot Ms. Zwerner.”

“Ms. Zwerner looked down to see a pool of blood forming. The child continued to stare at her, not changing his emotional facial expression as he tried to shoot again,” the report continued.

The only reason the boy stopped with one shot fired was because the gun he brought to school, which belonged to his mother, jammed after that first time. There were seven more bullets ready to be fired if it had not jammed, the grand jury noted.

That’s where the eight felony charges that Parker faces are stemming from, not just what did happen in the school on that day, but what could have and how much worse it could have been with “each of the eight bullets that endangered all the students.”

The six-year-old boy’s mother was charged with child neglect last year and sentenced to two years in prison in December, per The Huffington Post.

Parker is facing charges for failing to respond to repeated warnings from multiple school staff members about the boy in the weeks leading up to the shooting, and even on the day that he brought his mother’s gun to school.

According to the grand jury report, Parker was advised by several staff members on January 6 that the student had a gun, but dismissed their concerns. Even the boy’s teacher, Abby Zwerner, told Parker she was concerned about his “aggression” on that day.

The Grandy Jury claimed in their report that Parker did not “acknowledge Ms. Zwerner’s presence” during this exchange, and in fact did not even “look away from her computer screen.”

Another teacher, Ms. Kovac, attempted to intervene after two students told her the boy had a gun in his bag. She went to Zwerner’s classroom and asked if she could search the bag, but the boy would not allow it.

When she approached Parker about this and additionally told her that the student “was acting unlike his normal self,” the then-administrator didn’t ask any questions, “took no further action, and did not appear to show concern,” according to the grand jury report.

Ms. Kovac reportedly was able to search the boy’s bag later in the day, but did not find the gun. She said she then reported to Parker she’d seen him put something in his pocket, but was apparently told, “He has little pockets.”

Yet another teacher, Ms. West, got involved when a friend of the boy told her that he knew his friend had a gun and bullets because he showed it all to him. “The friend was visibly scared and shaking,” per the report. “He said the child would hurt him if he told her.”

Ms. West also approached Parker with what the student had told her and again Parker dismissed the concerns, telling Ms. West that the boy’s bag had already been searched, per the report.

The school’s counselor even got involved with the situation after speaking with the frightened friend who’d purportedly seen the gun and bullets. The counselor requested permission to have security search the boy, but Parker allegedly denied the request, noting “his mom would come pick him up soon.”

Parker reportedly resigned her position as assistant principal 19 days after the shooting, per Portsmouth, Virginia’s NBC affiliate WAVY.

Prosecutors are wanting to hold the ex-assistant principal “criminally liable” for the shooting for her alleged “lack of actions” in response to all the times people had tried to warn her about a possible threat to the school. The Grand Jury noted her “responsibility to care for the children in Ms. Zwerner’s classroom and throughout the school.”

Additionally, the school district is facing a $40 million lawsuit from Zwerner — which will go to trial according to WAVY — as well as additional suits from several families impacted by the shooting. Zwerner’s attorneys told HuffPo in a statement that the charges levied against Parker “underscore the failure of the school district to act to prevent the tragic shooting.”

In a statement received by WAVY, Zwerner’s team said, “The grand jury report reveals a systemic failure that led to the shooting of Abby Zwerner. Most shocking is the apparent cover up of disciplinary records before and after the shooting. We are grateful for the work of the special grand jury and the answers they have provided this community.”

Emily Mapp Brannon, an attorney for the seven families that also filed suit, responded to the charges as well, telling WAVY, “These charges suggest that there is sufficient evidence that the students of Richneck were placed in peril by the very hands entrusted to protect them.”

“I remain optimistic that our criminal justice system will provide answers to the Richneck community,” she continued. “For the first time in over a year, the families may find comfort in knowing that the administration is being held accountable.” Each of those lawsuits is seeking $3 million in damages.