Abby Zwerner, the first grade teacher at a school in Virginia, USA, who was killed by a 6-year-old student in early January, a lawsuit for $40 million in damages.
Zwerner charged elementary school officials on Monday richneck From gross negligence for allegedly ignoring multiple warnings of the incident. The teacher said the boy was in a “violent mood” and hinted that the episode could have been prevented.
In the complaint, provided by the Los Angeles Times, Zwerner accuses having suffered permanent injury, physical pain, mental anguish, loss of income and other damages.
It is worth mentioning that the 25-year-old teacher was shot in the hand and chest on January 6 at two in the afternoon while sitting at her class desk. The boy pulled the trigger when the teacher jumped on him with the intention of snatching the revolver from him.
As a result, Zwerner spent two weeks at Riverside Regional Medical Center and has undergone four surgeries to date.
The request
The defendants, according to the Times, are i Newport News School Board, Former Superintendent George Parker III, Former Richneck Principal Briana Foster Newton, and Former Richneck Assistant Principal Ebony Parker.
No one has been charged in the shooting. Not even the baby. After the episode occurred, Parker III was fired from the Council and Ebony Parker resigned from her position.
Zwerner’s lawyers say all defendants ‘knew’ the boy ‘had a history of random violence’ at school and at home.
“All defendants knew that John Doe attacked students and teachers alike, and his motivation to harm was directed at anyone who stood in his path, both on and off campus, and was not limited to teachers while they were at school”. a pseudonym for the child.
In this regard, the teacher’s defense highlighted that last year the boy “strangled” his kindergarten teacher and that “his motivation to hurt was aimed at anyone who was in his path” without limiting himself only to the teachers.
“Teachers’ concerns about his behavior were routinely brought to the attention of the Richneck Elementary School administration, and the concerns were always dismissed,” the lawsuit says, adding that every time the boy went to the office, he returned with some “reward “. like a lollipop.
The lawsuit describes that Parker was made aware of the boy’s condition in the moments before the shooting and that the assistant principal he offered no response. As we mentioned, the boy was “in a violent mood,” but he also threatened to hit a kindergarten child and stared at a security guard in the school cafeteria for a long time.
The future of the child
Last month, the prosecutor Howard Gwyn She said they will not accuse the child for being too young to understand the legal system.
The case is waiting to hear if there will be any adults chargedas the pistol belonged to the young man’s mother and had been legally acquired and, according to the family lawyer, was secured above a wardrobe with a padlock.
Andrew Blockan associate professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the shooter was unlikely to be prosecuted despite the fact that there is no minimum age to be charged with a crime in Virginia.
“In practice, it would be nearly impossible to prosecute a 6-year-old, no matter how serious,” a former director of the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice told the Washington Post Block.
He cited the “defense of childhood” that children under the age of 7 do not have the capacity or mental state to form intent to commit a crime.
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.