NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Newly unsealed search warrants reveal statements a 6-year-old student allegedly made after police said he shot a teacher at a Newport News elementary school.
Richneck Shooting
TIMELINE: Everything we know about the shooting at Richneck and the aftermath
The shooting happened Jan. 6, 2023, at Richneck Elementary School, where police said the student shot 25-year-old Abigail Zwerner in her classroom. First responders say they found Zwerner in the school office with gunshot wounds in her left hand and upper torso.
A staff member who restrained the boy said he admitted to shooting the teacher and claimed he got his mom's gun the night before the shooting, the search warrants read.
News
Read newly unsealed search warrant surrounding Richneck Elem. shooting
As News 3 has previously reported, Zwerner’s legal team said multiple school staff members, including Zwerner, approached Richneck's administration on the day of the shooting saying they had concerns about the 6-year-old boy.
According to the search warrant, one of those staff members, Amy Kovac, a reading specialist at the school, heard from two students on the day of the shooting who said the 6-year-old had a gun in his book bag.
The warrant also said Kovac and a school administrator searched the student's backpack when the class when to recess, but they did not find a gun.
Kovac told investigators that after the class got back from recess, she heard a gunshot come from the classroom, and several children ran out, according to the warrant. Kovac also saw Zwerner run from the classroom, bleeding from the hand and upper torso. From there, she was taken to the hospital.
The search warrant said Kovac went into the classroom and saw the 6-year-old standing by his desk with a gun on the floor next to him.
Kovac held the 6-year-old in place until police got to the scene, according to the details of the warrant. It was during that time that the 6-year-old allegedly made several statements to Kovac, including, “'I shot that b**** dead,’ ‘I did it’ and ‘I got my mom’s gun last night.’"
Investigators interviewed Zwerner at the hospital after the shooting. They said she told them that after walking into the classroom from recess, she divided her students into groups for a reading activity. That’s when she saw the 6-year-old pull the gun from his jacket pocket and point it toward her.
Zwerner asked, “What are you doing with that?” according to the search warrant.
That’s when investigators said the student fired a shot, which went through Zwerner’s left hand and into her torso.
Zwerner also allegedly told investigators there had been multiple “disciplinary incidents” involving the boy prior to the shooting, involving physical violence and threats of violence, which had been reported to school administrators.
Several days after the shooting, detectives interviewed a retired Newport News elementary school teacher who had been assigned to Richneck. According to the details of the warrant, the retired teacher said she was choked in Sept. 2021 by the same student who reportedly shot Zwerner.
“This affiant was able to obtain limited school records pertaining to [the student] from Child Protective Services,” the search warrant reads. “The incident to which [the kindergarten teacher] describes above is not found in these records. This affiant believes that [the kindergarten teacher’s] incident and possibly others were not readily provided by Newport News Public Schools.”
The boy has not been charged in the shooting, but his mother Deja Taylor is facing charges related to the case. She’s set to have a plea hearing instead of a bench trial on Aug. 15. She’ll appear in court for two charges: felony child neglect and a misdemeanor count of leaving a firearm in a way that could endanger a child.
Taylor’s lawyer, James Ellenson, previously told News 3 that he and his client were hoping to work out a plea deal for the charges. He also told us Taylor faced mental health issues after having an ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage, which he said contributed to the shooting.
News
Mother of 6-year-old who shot teacher gets plea hearing instead of bench trial
"That resulted in postpartum depression and that has been a large factor in a number of the events that led up to the unfortunate event on January 6," Ellenson told News 3 in April.
Taylor also faces federal gun and drug charges. She has already pleaded guilty to being an unlawful user of a controlled substance in possession of a firearm and making a false statement during the purchase of a firearm. She'll appear in court for those charges on Oct. 18.
Richneck Shooting
Mother of Richneck student that shot teacher pleads guilty in federal court
The Newport News School District sent the following statement to News 3 when asked about the search warrant:
"Unfortunately, FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, prevents schools from releasing information from a student’s education record. U.S. Department of Education guidance states “schools must have written permission from the parent or eligible student in order to release any information from a student's education record.”
"Newport News Public Schools is unable to comment on this matter in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act."
