NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Abigail Zwerner, the former Richneck Elementary School teacher who was shot by her 6-year-old student in her classroom on Jan. 6, 2023, is opening up about her challenges in the year since the shooting.
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"[The last year has been] very hard. Troubling. Traumatic. Mostly downs and not ups," said Zwerner in an interview Wednesday with News 3 anchor Jessica Larche. "I was diagnosed with PTSD. [My] anixety has raised, [my] depression has raised, and that really takes a toll on me emotionally.
As News 3 has reported in the year since Zwerner's shooting, the child— who had a history of violence against teachers and students— shot Zwerner with his mother's gun at the school. The bullet pierced Zwerner's hand and chest, with fragments remaining in those areas of her body.
The boy's mother, Deja Taylor, has been sentenced to serve 21 months in prison for federal firearms charges and two years in prison on separate felony child neglect charges.
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Zwerner filed a $40 million lawsuit against the Newport News school system and several administrators after the shooting. School system attorneys argued Zwerner was only entitled to Workers' Compensation and asked for the lawsuit to be thrown out, but a judge recently ruled the lawsuit can move forward. A trial date is set for January 2025.
Ahead of the one year anniversary of Zwerner's shooting, Zwerner goes into detail with Jessica Larche about her experience over the last year.
Watch a clip from the interview in the video player above, and watch the extended interview starting at at 5 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 5.
Richneck Shooting
