Jan. 25 (UPI) — The shooting of elementary school teacher Abby Zwerner was preventable had school administrators heeded warnings that a 6-year-old student was armed, an attorney for the teacher said Wednesday.
In a press briefing, Diane Toscano, Zwerner’s attorney, said administrators at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Va., ignored multiple reports from teachers that a student had a gun either in their backpack or pocket on Jan. 6, the day Zwerner was shot.
On three occasions that morning, three different school employees told administrators that the young boy had a gun on him and threatened other students, Toscano said.
“But the administration could not be bothered,” Toscano said.
“This tragedy was entirely preventable, if school administrators, responsible for school safety, had done their part and taken action to acknowledge imminent danger,” Toscano said.
The first report came between 11:15 and 11:30 a.m. when Zwerner told an administrator that the boy threatened to “beat up” another child.
At about 12:30 p.m., another teacher told an administrator that she searched the boy’s backpack but did not find a gun. She said she suspected the boy put the gun in his pocket before going to recess.
The administrator dismissed the warning, saying “he has little pockets,” according to Toscano.
After 1 p.m., a third teacher said they spoke with another young boy who they found crying. The boy told them that the suspect showed them the gun during recess and threatened to shoot them if they told anybody about it.
A fourth school employee who heard about a child possibly having a gun asked for permission to search his backpack and was denied by administrators.
“He was told to wait the situation out because the school day was almost over,” Toscano said.
Zwerner was shot in front of her class at about 1:59 p.m. She ushered her students out of the classroom before also exiting. She then went down the hallway and into the administrative office where faculty gave her first aid while waiting for medics to arrive.
Another school employee restrained the shooter until law enforcement was on the scene.
“Abby Zwerner is the best of us,” Toscano said. “An optimistic, dedicated and caring elementary school teacher who endured the unthinkable, being shot purposely by a 6-year-old student in front of her first-grade class while teaching.”
Toscano said Zwerner is at home recovering from the incident, but the bullet that struck her remains inside her body. She informed the Newport News School Board that she intends to file a lawsuit on behalf of Zwerner but did not clarify what the charges would be.
“Had the school administrators acted in the interest of their teachers and their students, Abby would not have sustained a gunshot wound to the chest,” she said.