Former elementary school assistant principal charged after a teacher was shot by 6-year-old student
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By Artemis Moshtaghian, CNN
New York (CNN) — A former Virginia elementary school administrator was indicted last month and charged with eight felony counts after a 6-year-old student brought a gun to school and shot his teacher last year.
Ebony Parker, the former assistant principal at Richneck Elementary in Newport News, was indicted and charged with child abuse and disregard for life by a Special Grand Jury on March 11, according to recently released court records.
Parker was responsible for the care of students at Richneck Elementary but 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,” said court documents obtained by CNN. Each felony count in Virginia carries a sentence of up to five years in prison.
Parker and her attorney Curtis Rogers have not responded to CNN’s requests for comment.
Parker resigned about three weeks after teacher Abigail Zwerner was shot by one of her first-grade students, CNN previously reported. Zwerner survived the shooting.
“These charges are very serious and underscore the failure of the school district to act to prevent the tragic shooting of Abby Zwerner,” attorneys Diane Toscano, Kevin Biniazan, and Jeffrey Breit said in a statement on behalf of the first-grade teacher on Tuesday. “The school board continues to deny their responsibility to Abby, and this indictment is just another brick in the wall of mounting failures and gross negligence in their case.”
Zwerner’s attorney claims that the shooting could have been avoided with proper intervention by the school and its administrators. In a $40 million lawsuit against the school board and administrators filed late last year, Zwerner’s attorney Diane Toscano alleges that concerned teachers and employees alerted administrators three times on the day of the shooting that the student had a gun and was threatening people.
CNN has reached out to the office of Newport News Commonwealth Attorney Howard Gwynn for comment.
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