Newport News, Va. (NewsradioWRVA.com) - A lawsuit will be filed against the Newport News School District on behalf of Richneck Elementary School teacher Abby Zwerner, who was shot by a 6 year old boy in a classroom on January 6th.
Zwerner's lawyer, Diane Toscano, says that on the day of the shooting, concerned teachers and employees warned administrators three times that the boy either had a gun on him or was making threats. Toscano says that the administrators "could not be bothered".
The first warning came from Zwerner herself and happened around 11:15 that morning. She told administrators that the boy was threatening to beat up other students. The second warning came from another teacher at 12:30 p.m., who saw the boy put the gun in his pocket as he was heading out for recess. The third warning came from another teacher, who said another student was crying out of fear because the boy had shown the student the gun at recess.
Toscano says that another employee had volunteered to search the boy for the gun after all the warnings while school administrators told the person to "wait it out" as it was nearing the end of the day.
Newport News Schools Superintendent Dr. George Parker has said that no weapon was found when a tip prompted a search of the boy's backpack earlier in the day.
Toscano took no questions after providing her statement, so there are no details about the lawsuit.