NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Two days shy of the first anniversary of a shooting inside Richneck Elementary School, multiple lawsuits were filed in Newport News Circuit Court.
News 3 reporter Angela Bohon obtained copies of the legal filings, dated Jan. 4, 2024.
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The plaintiffs in the six lawsuits are family members of Richneck Elementary students who were there at the time of the shooting on Jan. 6, 2023. That’s when police say a first grader pulled out a gun and shot his teacher, Abby Zwerner, who is recovering.
The documents demand a trial by jury and list the defendants as the Newport News School Board, former Superintendent Dr. George Parker III, former Richneck Principal Briana Foster Newton, and former Vice Principal Ebony Parker.
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The lawyer, Emily Mapp Brannon, is listed on each of the summonses that ask for $3 million for compensatory and punitive damages. The circuit court filings list “gross negligence” and “negligent infliction of emotional distress.”
One of the lawsuits states, “…the Plaintiff has suffered and will continue to suffer great physical pain and mental anguish and will continue to suffer great pain and mental anguish in the future.”
One parent listed is Mark Anthony Garcia. He declined to comment for this story, but a couple weeks after the shooting during an interview with Bohon, he had stated, “My son is having problems going to sleep and crying, because he feels like he’s not going to be safe.”
Brannon has not commented on the pending legal actions.
Stay with News 3 for updates.
