A Virginia jury has awarded $10 million to Abby Zwerner, the former first-grade teacher who was shot by her 6-year-old student at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News in 2023, concluding that the school’s former assistant principal, Ebony Parker, was grossly negligent in failing to act on multiple warnings that the boy may have brought a gun to class.
The verdict, delivered Thursday after five and a half hours of deliberation, represents a rare civil finding of personal liability against a school administrator in a school-shooting case. For insurers and risk managers in the public education sector, it raises pressing questions about coverage, indemnity, and the limits of risk pooling when gross negligence is alleged.
Parker, who resigned shortly after the shooting, faces eight felony child abuse charges in a separate criminal case scheduled for trial later this month. She did not testify during the six-day civil trial.
Zwerner’s lawsuit originally sought $40 million and accused Parker of repeatedly ignoring warnings from teachers and staff that the boy had a weapon. A special grand jury last year found Parker had been warned three times on the day of the shooting but failed to act.
The defense maintained that the event was unforeseeable and that staff, including Zwerner herself, could have intervened. “It was unthinkable,” Parker’s attorney argued in closing statements, describing the shooting as an unprecedented act by a child so young.
At about 2 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2023, the student pulled a 9mm handgun from his jacket pocket and shot Zwerner through the hand, the bullet lodging near her spine. She has undergone six surgeries and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
The ruling followed a separate decision by Judge Matthew Hoffman rejecting the Newport News School Board’s claim that Zwerner’s injuries were covered exclusively by workers’ compensation. The judge held that being shot by a student was not an expected occupational hazard, clearing the way for a civil trial.
The school board, which was dismissed as a defendant earlier this year, has signaled that it expects the ruling to be appealed.
While no insurer or risk-pool has been named in court filings, local coverage and legal experts note that the school division participates in a state-administered risk pool that provides liability protection for public entities. Under Virginia law, such pools - most prominently the Virginia Risk Sharing Association (VRSA) and the state’s VaRISK 2 program—act as self-insurance mechanisms for municipalities and school boards.
If Zwerner’s award is upheld, it is likely to be paid, at least in part, through that system. Whether gross negligence, as found by the jury, would trigger or exclude coverage could become a focal point in any post-verdict proceedings.
For insurers and risk managers, the case highlights the complexity of coverage where sovereign immunity intersects with personal liability and the growing exposure of educational institutions to acts of violence once deemed unimaginable.
Even as the jury’s verdict closes one chapter, the legal and financial repercussions for Newport News—and for risk pools serving public school systems across the country—are only beginning.
