Name: Former first grade teacher shot by 6-year-old testifies in civil trial
Uploaded: 2025-10-30T19:16:07.642Z
Duration: 3 min 24 s
Description: Abby Zwerner, a former Virginia teacher who was shot by a 6-year-old student in 2023, testified Thursday in her $40 million lawsuit over the incident. CBS News correspondent Shanelle Kaul has more.

Abby Zwerner, a former Virginia teacher who was shot by a 6-year-old student in 2023, testified Thursday in her $40 million lawsuit over the incident. CBS News correspondent Shanelle Kaul has more.

Newport News

A former first grade teacher, Abby Zwerner, testified in a Newport News, Virginia, civil trial about being shot twice by a six-year-old student in her classroom in January 2023. Zwerner described the traumatic experience and its lasting impact, stating she initially thought she was dying after the incident.

The civil lawsuit seeks $40 million against the former assistant principal, Ebony Parker, who is accused of ignoring warnings about the student. Parker is also facing a separate criminal case with eight counts of felony child neglect, set to begin next month.

Former first grade teacher shot by 6-year-old testifies in civil trial

What a story this is. A former teacher is on the stand today testifying about what happened in her classroom in 2023 when a six year old student shot her twice. Let's talk about this with CBS News New York's Chanel called joining us live from the CBS newsroom there. Chanel. This one pretty jaw dropping. It absolutely is read. We're following this very closely. Some emotional testimony in court today hearing from Abby's Werner. She is the teacher who you remember was shot in the hand and the chest on January 6 2023. She was inside her classroom. She was sitting at a reading table interacting with students. When this happened, a six year old child shot her. Um, she was here inside court today. I want to show you this live feed from court tv that we're taking a close look at. She is now accusing read the former assistant principal that day of ignoring some serious warning signs that that six year old had brought a gun into school and was capable of shooting people. Take a listen. And what is the last thing you remember that day at the school? The last thing I remember at the school Yeah. Um, obvious. I thought I was dying. Um, I thought I had died. I thought I was either, um on my way to heaven or in heaven. But then it all got black. And so I then thought I wasn't going there. And then I my next memory is, um, I see two co workers around me and I process that I'm I'm hurt and they're they're they're putting pressure on where I'm hurt. During that clip, you again hear from Abby's Werner talking about, you know, the moments that this happened, what this was like for her, the deep impact this has had on her life since then. But during cross examination, we did hear some talk about defense trying to show that's Werner's injuries actually weren't as impactful, weren't as bad as she's portraying them to be. So we'll have to see how successful that argument will be in the long run again. This is a $40 million civil lawsuit, and I want to emphasize this is the civil lawsuit against ex assistant principal Ebony Parker because Parker is also involved in a criminal case that will begin next month. And in that case read, she faces eight counts of felony child neglect. So again, very serious, um, criminal case coming ahead in in just about a month now. But what we see unfold in the next few weeks in this case could be a precursor for the next one. That testimony that you aired really takes us in the room that day. What a story. Chanel call. Thank you so much for that.

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