Teacher shot at Newport News elementary school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this payment supposed to come from the assistant principal? Or the school system, because she does not have that $$ and is now facing criminal trial next week.

Apparently the superintendent and principal were never charged. What will be the source of $$?

Principal wasn’t there that day.

School board/superintendent had sovereign immunity under the Virginia Tort Claims Act I think.

The principal was in her office.

No, that was the assistant principal who is to blame because the principal wasn’t there.

Rre you sure? I read that they we both there but that no one told the Principal what was happening. Maybe that's incorrect info?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those who want to know how and why this happened- it's very simple. Those of us who teach all understand. No one was willing to do anything, not the admin, the other teachers, the teacher- due to the overwhelming liability facing school employees in today's school environment. If a kid has an IEP, or even if he does not, a staff member could be sued for anything. No one wanted to touch that bag. Or him.
It really could have been the absolute worst of tragedies, kids being killed, etc. Teacher is correct- she will never teach again. Most teachers feel this way, it's a very dangerous environment for so many reasons.

According to the news articles, several school staff saw the gun and reported it to the assistant principal. Teacher is now studying cosmetology but her hand (which was one of the places shot) doesn't work well enough for her to finish the degree.

Assistant principal said something along the lines of "who would think a 6 yo could shoot someone" but in America where any idiot/criminal/druggie can buy a gun (and often does), of course you have to think of the worst case scenario. Assistant principal also resigned too.

This is a child who at 5 choked out his adult kindergarten teacher from behind with a jump rope.

[Anonymous]

IMO Zwerner also bore responsibility.

[Anonymous]

You know what I think? This child was probably threatening violence on a daily basis or acting out on such a regular basis that it became normal to the teachers and other school staff. That counselor and principal probably get a call about that student daily and probably just thought he was lying about it to scare people because that is what he does. That is why everyone somewhat underreacted, a threat or a violent encounter was probably just another routine day at school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have not read all 91 pages of this thread. As a teacher, I have been interested in this case but found it hard to follow all the details.

I went through and combed reports I could find online, and also results of current testimony. This is the summary I have so far with just a few of my own comments.


The boy JT’s behavioral issues began in kindergarten at Richneck Elementary, when he strangled and choked a teacher from behind, and also pulled up a female classmate’s dress and touched her inappropriately on the school playground. Despite this violent act, school officials did not create a behavioral plan. Administrators later decided he should attend a different school, but he returned to Richneck Elementary for first grade without completing kindergarten.

Once back, JT's troubling behaviors resumed. The boy was required to be accompanied by a parent at school “because of his violent tendencies" (although they did not background check his parents and apparently didn't know or care that his father had a criminal background).

Two days before the incident, the boy had been suspended for smashing teacher Abby Zwerner’s phone. The day of the incident was the first day back from suspension, and for some reason, the boy was allowed to come to school without a parent accompanying him.

On January 6, 2023, a series of escalating warnings went unaddressed by Assistant Principal Dr. Ebony Parker. (The principal was present in the building, but was never contacted by any of the teachers nor by the AP so she was unaware of these events and warnings.)

11:15–11:30 a.m. – Following protocol, first-grade teacher Abby Zwerner (fairly young and with just 2 years experience, I think) notified Assistant Principal Dr. Ebony Parker that the 6-year-old had threatened (earlier that morning) to beat up a kindergartner and had been aggressive with a security officer during lunch. The reading specialist, Amy Kovac , an experienced teacher, was in Dr. Parker’s office at the time and testified that Dr. Parker never looked up from her computer as Zwerner reported the threats. Instead of contacting security or removing the child, the AP Dr. Ebony Parker told Amy Kovac that Zwerner could “call his mom to come pick him up.”

My comments: So right away, notice the message that Ms. Zwerner is getting from her admin. Here's a kid who smashed her phone, has a history of violence, and is *supposed* to have a parent in with him every day and that didn't happen. The AP could not care less that the kid is back from his one day suspension and already is acting out.

between 11:30 and 12:30 – Two students told Reading specialist Amy Kovac that JT had a gun in his backpack. Ms Kovac went to Ms Zwerer's classroom and pulled the 1st grader aside and talked to him. When she questioned him, he refused to let her check the bag, saying, “No one is getting that bag.” Ms. Kovac immediately reported this to Assistant Principal Dr. Ebony Parker, who again took no action.

Recess period (around 12:30 p.m.) – Reading specialist Amy Kovac decided to wait until recess, when the boy was out of the classroom, to search his backpack. She found only school materials, but no gun. Phew... but while she was walking back to her classroom, Kovac received a text from Abby Zwerner who was outside at recess, saying either that she, herself had seen JT take something from his bag and put it in his pocket, or that a child told her that is what he had seen. Amy Kovac again immediately went to the AP's office to report this new concern. Dr. Parker dismissed the concern, responding, “He has little pockets.”

The AP didn't inform the principal of any of these reports or concerns. She didn't get up and leave her office to go check things out. She didn't do anything.

Outside at Recess – Lead first-grade teacher Jennifer West said Abby Zwerner reported that a student had seen the boy move something from his backpack to his coat. Jennifer West watched the boy and another student, “R,” behind a tree for 15–20 minutes. When questioned, “R,” visibly upset, told her the boy had a gun and had threatened to “hurt us, blow us up.” Jennifer West immediately followed protocol and called the office..

My comments: Remember, these are teachers supervising classes of grade 1 students outside on a playground/recess area. They are BOTH calling the office and calling experienced teachers for help and guidance as to how to handle this boy who again, remember, was deemed so violent and explosive that he wasn't even allowed to be in school without a one-to-one aide (his parents) who were allowed to not be there that day.

Guidance counselor Rolonzo Rawles presumably was in the office and heard this call, or was somehow made aware of what was going on. He asked the AP Dr. Parker for permission to search the student (not his backpack - his body/clothing). The AP told him to “wait it out” because the school day was nearly over.

Around 1:00 PM I assume the class came in from recess. I assume 1-2 PM was their reading instruction time. At some point, the guidance counselor went to Ms. Zwerner's classroom and told her that they did not have permission from the AP to search the boy's pockets and clothing. Ms. Zwerner was sitting at her reading desk, instructing students, when...

Around 2:00 p.m., JT pulled his mother’s handgun from his pocket and shot Abby Zwerner in the hand and chest while she was teaching. The gun jammed after the first shot, though it still contained seven rounds.

Despite her injuries, Zwerner guided her students from the classroom to the school office before collapsing.
Ms. Kovac testified that she heard a gunshot near the end of the school day and ran into the classroom as children were “screaming and running out.” She saw Zwerner bleeding and immediately contained JT (grabbed and held him firmly) and also managed to call 911, stating, “This is Richneck. A teacher’s been shot, I have the shooter.” Police confirmed that none of the students (about 16-20 according to their report) were physically injured during the incident. Police also confirmed they saw a teacher contraining JT and that the teacher was being hit and kicked by him.

Investigators later found that Assistant Principal Dr. Ebony Parker had been informed multiple times throughout the day of threats and possible possession of a weapon but failed to alert the principal, the school resource officer, or police, which was a clear violation of the district’s crisis management policy. There was no school security officer on duty at the time of the shooting although there was one in the morning, it appears.

Principal Briana Foster-Newton, though present in the building, was never informed of these reports and was found not criminally liable.

Assistant Principal Dr. Ebony Parker resigned shortly after the shooting. She was indicted by a special grand jury on eight felony counts of child neglect/abuse in connection with the shooting at Richneck Elementary School in Newport  News, Virginia.

JT’s mother Deja Tyler was sentenced to two years in prison; she pled guilty to a state charge of felony child neglect. She is also serving 21 months for two federal felony charges, the unlawful use of a controlled substance while possessing a firearm and making a false statement while purchasing the firearm.

Newport News School District washed its hands of the whole thing. They say they had procedures in place, the administrator just didn’t follow them.

I’ve followed this case closely, including live commentary from parents who were unlucky enough to have kids in that class. This is a great summary, and it’s so upsetting to re-read.
Where even to start. Asking a 6 year old for permission (!) on suspicion there is a gun in his backpack? In what world do you ask such a child for permission for anything, in particular involving a credible threat to the lives of the students? In what world do you let such a child tell you what to do? In what world does a 6 yr old give a security officer problems? How are they letting a 5 year old choke a teacher nearly unconscious and still go to that same school? Who lets criminal parents be present in the classroom every day? The list of insanity goes on and on. I hope everyone gets totally slammed with the repercussions of this. Two years for the mother is a bad joke.

I think the problem with what you’re saying is the lack of alternatives. In part this is complicated by the fact that I don’t think we even know what to do with a child that has this level of behaviors in terms of education, medical care and behavior modification. There are not even programs or resources for a 5 or 6 year old, much less for one with this level of issues.

The entire situation is totally insane. I can’t recall ever hearing of a child that young planning and executing a shooting or anything close to that level of violence. It was a totally premeditated event with an intent to cause catastrophic loss.

And then there is the issue of lack of resources because people don’t want to work in special ed or even as a teacher. Unfortunately that problem is only getting worse.

I hear you. But when you see the signs you have to believe it!
It should have all been stopped for good and decisively much earlier! For one: Calling the police *every single time* (choking to unconsciousness! Property destruction of expensive items! Seriously hurting other children! Security officer intimidated and couldn’t handle 6-yr-old! Parents turned out to be criminals, no background checks!) could have resulted in proper intervention sooner. It’s also extremely tragic that the other parents in that class and grade were lied to and intentionally kept in the dark about the mounting danger that was put in their midst. It’s true that there are few professionals with experience of this severity this young, but it is not without precedence. If you see the signs, believe it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How much are the shooters' parents paying?

The gun seller?

The government that refused to implement gun control?

Shooter's mom is in jail it looks like. For child neglect, drugs etc.
Gun seller zero because Republicans in Congress gave them immunity from prosecution.
Government zero.

Meanwhile this poor young teacher gets her life wrecked because guns don't shoot people, 6 year olds shoot people.

Sadly, only for two years, one already served.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You know what I think? This child was probably threatening violence on a daily basis or acting out on such a regular basis that it became normal to the teachers and other school staff. That counselor and principal probably get a call about that student daily and probably just thought he was lying about it to scare people because that is what he does. That is why everyone somewhat underreacted, a threat or a violent encounter was probably just another routine day at school.

The Newport News school system is poorly run, and the school principal is at fault, too-- yet they just transferred her to another school. She allowed a child who had a violent behavioral history and drug addicted criminals for parents to be placed in a young, inexperienced teacher's classroom without an IEP or other supports because the parents wouldn't sign permission. That's when the parents should have been taken through due process/mediation. On top of that, she allowed his parents to be in the classroom daily. On the day of the shooting, that young teacher was left on her own with this extremely disturbed child. What?! No competent, caring principal would do that. These administrators should have both been fired imnediately and not permitted to resign or be placed elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this payment supposed to come from the assistant principal? Or the school system, because she does not have that $$ and is now facing criminal trial next week.

Apparently the superintendent and principal were never charged. What will be the source of $$?

The VA Risk Sharing Association will pay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this payment supposed to come from the assistant principal? Or the school system, because she does not have that $$ and is now facing criminal trial next week.

Apparently the superintendent and principal were never charged. What will be the source of $$?

Principal wasn’t there that day.

School board/superintendent had sovereign immunity under the Virginia Tort Claims Act I think.

The principal was in her office.

No, that was the assistant principal who is to blame because the principal wasn’t there.

The principal was in the building in her office that was locked. But the AP was in charge because for some unknown reason no one was allowed to disturb the principal that day.

There was a lawsuit against her that was dropped because they found out that she had no clue what was happening since no one reported to her directly that day. She was not held responsible because she did not know.

I read some Reddit threads on this case couple of months ago that went into further details about how Abby went to the office to look for the admins after she got shot. She fell down outside their offices. The principal opened the door and immediately closed it when she saw Abby. AP stayed in her chair even when the police officers arrived. The AP and principal left a grandmother who was there with a student refusing to come out. The student was hiding somewhere in the office while his grandmother performed CPR on Abby.

There were further details about how the AP (and possibly the principal as well not sure) attempted to delete data/documentation of the kid’s numerous previous behavior incident reports by putting them in their car and locking it. Even after someone got shot they tried to cover it up…

[Anonymous]

This grand jury report has a lot of details about the case.

https://nncwa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Full-Report-2024-opt.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IMO Zwerner also bore responsibility.

Oh I missed the part where she shot herself repeatedly with the gun that she brought into the classroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This grand jury report has a lot of details about the case.

https://nncwa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Full-Report-2024-opt.pdf

Thank you! Those school administrators were useless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"responsible gun owner" "Gun secured"

These parents are awful with their statement. Unless you're telling me that the 6yr old loaded that gun, the gun was kept and stored LOADED, which is a huge no no. You store the gun and ammunition SEPARATELY. HFS!!!!

Oh please. Gun secured? To me, that means in a locked safe. So, how did he 6 y.o. get hold of it? And it seems the gun was loaded. And a parent had to accompany 6 y.o. to school each day. What was the excuse on the day of the shooting when said 6 y.o. was unaccompanied? Sorry, but your mea cupla is not working.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another glaring problem here in terms of teachers being hesitant to act without permission from school administrators is fear of action by the Office of Civil Rights when the child is a young African American male.

I do think white teacher/black student played a part in this mess.

The mother said that her son actually really liked Abby Z in an interview. It sounded like the precipitating event for the phone smashing and her getting shot was telling him to sit down and not giving him attention. In one interview, the mother basically blamed Abby for instigating the phone smashing incident because she wasn't giving him enough attention. Definitely a complicated dynamic with the teacher.

And the kindergarten teacher he choked? This kid has very very serious emotional and behavioral problems, along with drug using parents. He should have been in a specialized classroom for children with his level of problematic behaviors. Can you imagine how fortunate this school system is that he didn't shoot one of his classmates? It's highly doubtful he had an IEP. Terrible choices were made by these inept and incompetent administrators and this school system's administrators who chose to downplay the severity of this child's difficulties.

But what specialized programs exist for kids this young with this level of behaviors? It's easy to say that he should have been in a specialized classroom, but if there aren't any, I don't see how that is a solution.

I don’t know, if this particular 6 yr-old has this: Born with an absolute inability to feel empathy, compassion, or remorse. What you do with such a child?
Education: Becomes irrelevant. Protect others as early as possible. These children will kill or get killed before they reach adulthood. Once inpatient; individualized.
Medical; extremely difficult, needs expert assessment. Mental health professionals should refer this up and out. The adults around these children often have a hard time acknowledging the severity. There are some programs in the nation, all inpatient. The cause is untreatable (certainly if born with it), but at these programs they’ve had some success appealing to the kid’s logic that they won’t achieve any gratification, or desired outcomes through violence and murder. They have to perpetually remind themselves of this though, because they feel indifferent about it. There is also an acquired similar presentation; and those kids are in the same programs, but they’ve been through very severe prolonged trauma and torture, often arriving older, while the ones born with this have been through no significant trauma and get noticed much younger. Unfortunately, by the time they get into these programs they have often killed multiple times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IMO Zwerner also bore responsibility.

Oh I missed the part where she shot herself repeatedly with the gun that she brought into the classroom.

+1. This was a tragedy for the young teacher who is now studying to be a cosmetologist but can’t finish as she doesn’t have full use of her hands after her 7th surgery.

And above all, it’s a tragedy that in America, any idiot/druggy/criminal like this kid’s mom can get a gun easily.