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2023-08-09 23:31:05
After allegedly shooting his teacher in a Virginia classroom last January, the 6-year-old made statements including “I shot that (expletive) to death” and “I did it. Last night I took the gun from my mother,” according to recently unsealed police search warrants.
New court documents from the city of Newport News offer details regarding a shooting that seriously injured a first-grade teacher and shocked the country.
The teacher, Abby Zwerner, survived despite being shot in the hand and chest, and sued Newport News Public Schools for $40 million. The mother of the 6-year-old boy, Deja Taylor, was charged with felony child neglect and misdemeanor reckless carry of a firearm. The pleadings hearing in Taylor’s case has been set for next week.
The search warrants, which were made public following six months, said a Richneck Elementary School reading specialist was walking past Zwerner’s class when she heard a gunshot.
“Several children ran out of class #11,” the court orders read. The reading specialist then saw Zwerner run past as he bled from his hand and upper torso.
The specialist walked into Zwerner’s classroom and saw the boy standing by his desk with the gun on the floor, near him, according to the court order. The specialist grabbed the boy and held him at his place until the police arrived.
“While holding him down, (the boy) made statements like: ‘I shot that (expletive) to death.’ And ‘I did.’ ‘I took my mother’s gun last night,'” the court orders say.
When police arrived, they found a loaded 9mm pistol on the classroom floor and eventually found a spent casing nearby, according to search warrants.
Zwerner was later interviewed at the hospital. She told investigators that, before the shooting, she had divided her first-grade class into reading groups following recess.
The 6-year-old was at his desk when he pulled a gun from his jacket pocket and pointed it at Zwerner, who asked the boy, “What do you do with that?”
The 6-year-old boy “paused and then fired a shot that struck Zwerner in the left hand and upper torso,” according to the court orders.
Newport News investigators also interviewed the boy’s mother at police headquarters.
In an interview with TODAY, Abigail Zwerner offered details of her recovery, the tense moments leading up to the incident, and the ongoing lawsuit.
“Ms. Taylor stated that she kept her firearm in her purse with the trigger safety on or in a safe deposit box,” according to the documents.
“Ms. Taylor believes that on the morning of January 6, 2023 her firearm was stored in her purse with the trigger safety on and that her purse was on top of her bedroom dresser. Ms. Taylor stated that she keeps the key of the gun safety under the mattress in his bedroom,” they added.
In their search warrants, Newport News police had also attempted to search the student’s backpack, which had black-and-white checks and images of sharks. Her initials were written on it in black ink.
Police also seized a notebook with starfish that belonged to Zwerner, as well as a laptop and a manila folder labeled with the name of the boy who shot the teacher, according to search warrants.
Zwerner’s $40 million lawsuit accuses the school system of gross negligence and outlines a series of warnings school employees gave administrators in the hours before the shooting. Her lawsuit also claims that school officials dismissed concerns regarding the boy’s violent behavior over the course of months.
The school board has objected, arguing in court documents that the boy was being evaluated and treated for possible ADHD, which causes inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, while state and federal laws require keeping these children in the classroom as long as they may be possible.
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