NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — The day after a special grand jury report was released regarding the shooting of teacher Abby Zwerner by her then 6-year-old student, the Newport News Commonwealth's Attorney held a press conference to speak on the report and ongoing investigation.
The school's former assistant principal Ebony Parker has been charged with eight counts of child neglect, each count for one bullet that was in the gun used by the student. The student only fired once, the gun jamming on the remaining seven bullets.
Commonwealth's Attorney Howard Gwynn said the goal of the special grand jury was to answer three questions: What happened, why did it happen, and what can be done to insure it never happens again.
"I'm sure you looked at this report and saw the things that troubled you, we are troubled as well," said Gwynn in the press conference.
Richneck Shooting
Former Richneck administrator charged with child neglect appears in court
The special grand jury report highlights issues from the day of the shooting, including Parker ignoring multiple warnings about the student possibly having a gun and failing to allow staff to search him.
The report also states that there were missing documents regarding the student's behavioral file, and the Gwynn said they are continuing to look into the missing documents. Dr. LaQuiche Parrott was named in the report as having one copy of the student's records; although it was incomplete.
When asked in the press conference if Parrott could face obstruction of justice charges, Gwynn said they are continuing to investigate and will go wherever the facts and the law leads them.
“We hope to discover where those documents are and what happened to them,” said Gwynn.
On 3
Special Grand Jury Report: Richneck Elementary School shooting
Gwynn said in the press conference that the jurors on the special grand jury had the request to make the report public.
"I'm sure that any reader of that report expressed when they saw it, concern, about the safety issues that existed at Richneck," Gwynn said.
When asked his personal reaction to reading the report released Wednesday, Gwynn said he was appalled.
“I think anybody who read that report had the same reaction, how could this happen?" said Gwynn.
Gwynn said Parker could face anywhere from 0-12 months in jail or 1-5 years in prison per charge.
