A former assistant principal at a Virginia elementary school is facing charges of felony child neglect, more than a year after a harrowing incident where a 6-year-old boy brought a gun to class and shot his first-grade teacher.
The charges against Ebony Parker, 39, were revealed after a special grand jury in Newport News concluded that she displayed reckless disregard for the safety of students at Richneck Elementary School on January 6, 2023, according to indictments unsealed on Tuesday.
Parker, along with other school officials, is already embroiled in a $40 million negligence lawsuit filed by the teacher who was shot, Abby Zwerner. The lawsuit accuses Parker and others of ignoring multiple warnings about the boy's possession of a gun and his volatile behavior on the day of the shooting.
Criminal charges against school officials following school shootings are rare occurrences, as experts note. Parker faces eight felony counts, each carrying a potential sentence of up to five years in prison.
According to court documents filed on Tuesday, the charges against Parker allege that she "committed a willful act or omission in the care of such students, in a manner so gross, wanton, and culpable as to show a reckless disregard for human life."
The incident unfolded when the student retrieved his mother’s handgun from home and brought it concealed in a backpack to school, as per Newport News police reports.
Zwerner's lawsuit details a sequence of warnings provided by school employees to administrators prior to the shooting. Allegedly, Parker failed to act on these warnings, even when concerns were raised about the possibility of the child transferring the gun from his backpack to his pocket.
During the ordeal, Parker allegedly declined a request to search the boy and stated that his mother would soon arrive to pick him up.
Zwerner was injured when the boy fired the gun, hitting her hand and then her chest, which led to the collapse of one lung. She has since undergone numerous surgeries and continues to grapple with emotional trauma.
Parker, along with other defendants named in Zwerner's lawsuit, including a former superintendent and the Newport News school board, have attempted to halt the lawsuit, contending that Zwerner’s injuries should fall under Virginia’s workers’ compensation law.
However, their attempts to block the litigation have been unsuccessful thus far. A trial date for Zwerner’s lawsuit is scheduled for January.
The investigation into the incident has also led prosecutors to examine whether any security lapses by school employees contributed to the shooting. Commonwealth’s Attorney Howard Gwynn has expressed hopes that such investigations will yield recommendations to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
