Released Video Shows Child After Virginia School Shooting

Newly released police footage from Newport News, Virginia, shows a 6-year-old child confronting officers after shooting first-grade teacher Abigail Zwerner at Richneck Elementary School on Jan. 6, 2023. The video, made public after being sealed during criminal proceedings against former assistant principal Ebony Parker, captures the child's behavior as authorities processed the scene.

The shooting left Zwerner with a bullet lodged in her chest after it passed through her hand. During a civil trial against Parker, a doctor testified that removing the bullet would pose a greater danger than leaving it in place.

Zwerner, who no longer teaches, received $10 million in damages plus interest after a jury found Parker grossly negligent for ignoring warnings that the child had a gun in his backpack. The jury concluded that the shooting could have been prevented.

In the footage, an officer asks the child where the weapon is, and the child points it out while using profanity. The child also directs hostile language at officers and a teacher who restrains him as police begin processing the scene.

The child acknowledges taking the firearm from his mother, Deja Taylor. The teacher restraining him tells officers that gun residue remains on his hands.

In another exchange, the child challenges officers and says he is unconcerned about being arrested. The footage documents the immediate aftermath of the shooting and the response by school staff and law enforcement.

The video had initially been sealed during Parker's criminal trial, in which she faced eight counts of child neglect. A judge dismissed the case in May, ruling that Parker had not committed a crime under Virginia law.

The judge subsequently ordered the footage released but required the child's face to be blurred. The newly public recording provides additional documentation of the events immediately following the shooting.

Taylor was arrested after the shooting and faced a state felony child neglect charge and a federal weapons charge. In 2023, she received a two-year prison sentence for child neglect and a separate 21-month sentence for the weapons offense.

During the civil proceedings, Zwerner described her experience after being shot, recalling that she believed she was dying before losing consciousness.