In the moments following the January 2014 shooting of a Virginia classroom instructor by a 6-year-old, the child made statements such as “I shot that (expletive) dead” and “I did it.” Last night, I obtained my mother’s firearm, according to recently declassified police search warrants. New court documents in the city of Newport News provide new information about a shooting that left a first-grade teacher in critical condition and stunned the nation.
Abby Zwerner, who was shot in the hand and abdomen but survived, has filed a $40 million lawsuit against the Newport News Public Schools. Deja Taylor, the mother of the 6-year-old, was accused with felony child neglect and negligent storage of a firearm. Taylor’s plea hearing is scheduled for next week. According to the search warrants, which were unsealed after six months, a reading specialist at Richneck Elementary heard a gunfire while passing by Zwerner’s classroom.
“Several children fled from classroom #11,” according to the warrants. The reading specialist then observed Zwerner running by while she was hemorrhaging from her hand and upper body. According to the warrants, when the specialist entered Zwerner’s classroom, he observed the student standing by his desk with the handgun nearby. The specialist restrained the child until police arrived. “While being restrained, (the child) said things like, ‘I shot that (expletive) dead.'” And ‘I did it.’ “I obtained my mother’s firearm last night,” the warrants stated.
According to the search warrants, when police arrived, they discovered a loaded 9 mm handgun on the classroom floor as well as an expended shell casing nearby. Later, Zwerner was questioned at the hospital. She told investigators that after recess, prior to the murder, she had divided her first-grade class into reading groups. The 6-year-old boy was standing by his desk when he removed a pistol from his jacket pocket and pointed it at Zwerner, who inquired, “What are you doing with that?” According to the warrants, the 6-year-old “paused and then fired one shot, striking Zwerner in the left hand and upper torso.”
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Investigators from Newport News also interrogated the child’s mother at the police station.
The warrants stated, “Ms. Taylor stated she either stores her firearm in her purse with a trigger lock or in a lock box.” “On the morning of January 6, 2023, Ms. Taylor believed that her firearm was stowed in her purse with the trigger lock engaged and that her purse was on top of her bedside dresser. Ms. Taylor stated she stores the gunlock’s key under the bedding in her bedroom. Newport News police had also requested permission to search the boy’s knapsack, which featured black-and-white checkers and sharks. On it were his initials inscribed in black ink.
According to the search warrants, police also seized a notebook with starfish that belonged to Zwerner as well as a laptop and a manilla folder labeled with the name of the youth who wounded her. Zwerner’s $40 million lawsuit accuses the school system of gross dereliction and details a succession of warnings given by school employees to administrators in the hours preceding the shooting.
In addition, her lawsuit alleges that school officials ignored concerns about the boy’s violent behavior for months. The school board fought back, contending in court documents that the boy was being evaluated and treated for probable ADHD — which causes inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity — while state and federal laws require such children to remain in the classroom whenever feasible. Zwerner’s $40 million lawsuit accuses the school system of gross dereliction and details a succession of warnings given by school employees to administrators in the hours preceding the shooting. In addition, her lawsuit alleges that school officials ignored concerns about the boy’s violent behavior for months.
The school board fought back, contending in court documents that the boy was being evaluated and treated for probable ADHD — which causes inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity — while state and federal laws require such children to remain in the classroom whenever feasible.
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