Teacher shot by 6-year-old girl sent dire warning to loved one before she was shot, source says

A Virginia teacher who was shot dead by her 6-year-old student texted her lover before she was shot, a source close to the situation said, stating that the boy was armed and that school authorities were inactive.

A source on Tuesday said Abigail Zwerner sent a text about an hour before she was shot on Jan. 6, saying the student said he had a gun in his backpack and administrators at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News weren’t helping.

The text “showed her frustration,” said the source, who only revealed the details of one text message to NBC News, not messages that came before or after it. “She was upset because she was trying to get help with this child, for this child, and when she needed help, no one came.”

Abigail Zwerner
Abigail Zwerner.Abby Zwerner via Facebook

When asked about Zwerner’s text message and previous safety concerns from teachers and staff, Newport News Public Schools spokeswoman Michelle Price said: studying. It is being carefully investigated.”

On Wednesday morning, Zwerner’s lawyer Diane Toscano held a press conference and said three teachers had reached out to the school administration about the boy’s behavior on January 6 and what he is believed to have had a gun on campus.

According to Toscano, Zwerner first went to the school administrator between 11:15 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. and said the student had threatened to beat up a classmate. The second teacher approached the school administrator at 12:30 pm and told the administrator that the teacher had taken it upon herself to search the 6-year-old boy’s backpack.

“The administrator downplayed the teacher’s report and the possibility of having weapons,” Toscano said.

A third teacher told an administrator shortly before 1:00 p.m. that the boy showed a gun to a student at recess and “threatened to shoot him if he told anyone,” Toscano said.

According to Toscano, a fourth officer asked the administrator for permission to search the boy, but was refused.

The administrator told the employee to “wait the situation because the school day is almost over,” Toscano said.

Toscano said “the administration should not be disturbed” and the tragedy “could have been completely prevented” if the administration had “taken action when it knew of the imminent danger. But instead they did nothing and Abby was shot.”

Toscano said it plans to file a lawsuit on behalf of Zwerner.

A county spokesman could not be contacted for comment on Toscano’s allegations.

Before the press conference, the law firm representing the Zwerner family said it could not confirm the text and did not respond to the family’s requests for comment.

The news of Zwerner’s direct warning comes after the head of the school system, George Parker III, said in a virtual town hall this month that the boy came to school late and that his bag of books had been checked upon arrival at the office to sign in, according to parents. who watched the meeting.

“At least one administrator has been alerted to a possible weapon,” Parker said in a video viewed by NBC News.

A Newport News police spokeswoman said that during the investigation, authorities also found that “an employee of the school was notified of the possible presence of firearms at Richneck Elementary School before the shooting occurred,” adding: “The Newport News Police Department was not notified of this information prior to the incident. .”

More detailed information about who conducted the search, why the gun was not found and whether the child’s clothes were examined, is not reported.

Zwerner, 25, was hailed as a hero by the police, who said that after being deliberately shot and seriously wounded in the arm and chest, she still managed to get about 20 students safely out of her first class at Richneck. She was released from the hospital last week.

“I believe she really saved lives because I don’t know what else could have happened if those kids had stayed in that room,” Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew said during a press conference earlier this month. .

No allegations related to the case have been publicly reported.

The Washington Post reported last week that school officials downplayed previous warnings about the student despite repeated requests for help. School officials told Parker that Zwerner asked for help with a student “several times” during the school year, according to reports obtained by the Post and not independently verified by NBC News. The reports do not indicate who Zwerner turned to for help.

Another message from a teacher obtained by the Post details the student’s disturbing behavior that preceded the shooting, although the dates of the alleged behavior are unclear.

Richneck’s principal and deputy principal did not respond to Post’s requests for comment regarding the teacher’s account. School district spokeswoman Michelle Price told The Post that she could not “disseminate any information about the child’s education” and cited an ongoing police investigation and an internal investigation by the school.

Drew said the child’s mother legally bought the 9mm Taurus firearm that was fired and that the boy took it from the house. According to him, the key point in the investigation is whether it was properly protected.

The family of the boy who shot Zwerner said in a statement last week that the gun was “protected” when the child took it from home, but did not elaborate.

Our family has always been committed to responsible gun ownership and keeping firearms out of the reach of children. The firearms our son had access to were protected,” said the family’s lawyer, James Ellenson, in a statement.

The statement also said that the boy “suffered from an acute disability and was placed under guardianship at the school, under which his mother or father attended school with him and accompanied him to lessons every day. In addition, our son has benefited from an extensive care community that also includes his grandparents who work alongside us and other caregivers to provide for his needs and accommodations. Shooting week was the first week we weren’t in class with him. We will regret our absence on this day for the rest of our lives.”

The statement added that the boy was in the hospital after the shooting, receiving “essential treatment.”

Ellenson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday night regarding Zwerner’s text message. before shooting.

Richneck was closed after the shooting. The school will reopen on Monday and be equipped with a metal detector, the school said.

The district has secured funding for 90 state-of-the-art metal detectors to be installed in all of the district’s schools, officials said.

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