Abigail Zwerner: Virginia teacher texted family about 6-year-old armed student before getting shot by him
Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some readers. Discretion advised.
NEWPORT NEWS, VIRGINIA: A Virginia teacher who was shot by a six-year-old student in her classroom had allegedly texted a loved one before the incident, expressing her frustration with the administration after repeatedly warning the school about the young boy carrying a gun. On the day of the shooting, the school was warned three times by the faculty, an employee, and even a fellow student, but they did not take action.
On January 6, the 6-year-old boy shot Abigail Zwerner, his first-grade teacher at Virginia's Richneck Elementary School in Newport News. The bullet apparently traveled through her hand and into her chest. NBC News revealed that Zwerner allegedly messaged someone an hour before being shot, about the child carrying a gun in his backpack. “She was frustrated because she was trying to get help with this child, for this child, and then when she needed help, no one was coming,” a source said.
READ MORE
Abigail Zwerner shooting: Virginia boy, 6, who shot teacher is 'acutely disabled', says family
The news of her chilling text comes after Zwerner's lawyer announced the Richneck elementary school teacher would sue the school district for their negligence that nearly cost her life. “On that day, over the course of a few hours, three different times — three times — school administration was warned by concerned teachers and employees that the boy had a gun on him at the school and was threatening people,” lawyer Diane Toscano said in a Wednesday news conference, adding, “But the administration could not be bothered,” reported New York Post.
Toscano said that on the day of the shooting, a teacher told administration around 12.30 that she searched the boy's backpack for the gun but believed it was in his pocket. The very same day, another teacher warned the administration after a student told the teacher that the boy was carrying a gun and showed it to him before threatening to shoot him.
Interestingly, another employee asked the administration if she could search the boy, but she was dismissed and asked "to wait the situation out because the school day was almost over,” Toscano claimed. Around 2 pm, the boy "intentionally" shot the teacher, the police said, adding they never received complaints from the school about the 6-year-old bringing a gun to the school.
It was later revealed the boy was carrying his mom's legally purchased gun and it remains unclear how the 6-year-old shooter got access to the weapon. Subsequently, no arrests have been made in the shooting.