The newly public footage records police confronting the 6-year-old student minutes after Abby Zwerner was seriously wounded in her classroom.
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Newly released police body-camera footage shows the chaotic moments after a 6-year-old student shot first-grade teacher Abby Zwerner at Richneck Elementary School in 2023, including the child admitting he took his mother’s handgun and telling officers he did not care about going to jail.
The footage provides a new public view of the immediate police response to the Jan. 6, 2023, shooting, which drew national attention because of the child’s age and later led to criminal cases, major changes in the school system and a $10 million civil verdict. The recording had been used during court proceedings but remained sealed from the public until a court challenge by The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press sought its release.
The video begins after Zwerner and her students had left the classroom. Reading specialist Amy Kovac is shown holding the boy as police officers enter and look for the weapon. The child’s face is blurred. Kovac directs officers toward the gun and tells them the child had acknowledged having it. During the encounter, the boy repeatedly curses and challenges the adults around him. At one point, he tells officers, “I don’t care about going to jail.”
The child also tells officers that the gun belonged to his mother and that he took it from her. Authorities later determined the weapon was a 9 mm handgun purchased by his mother, Deja Nicole Taylor. Police said the child brought the weapon from home to Richneck Elementary. The body-camera footage does not show the shooting itself, and the child’s identity has remained protected because he was a minor.
Zwerner was teaching her first-grade class when the student fired one shot. Police said the bullet passed through her raised hand and entered her chest. Despite being seriously wounded, Zwerner helped get her students out of the classroom before seeking medical attention. She spent nearly two weeks in the hospital and later underwent six surgeries. The bullet remains in her chest, and she has said she does not have full use of her left hand.
The case later focused heavily on what school employees knew before the shooting. Zwerner’s lawsuit alleged that former Richneck assistant principal Ebony Parker failed to act after several employees raised concerns that the child might have a gun. During the civil trial, evidence showed that staff members had reported concerns during the school day before the shooting. Parker’s defense argued that her decisions should be judged based on what she knew at the time rather than through hindsight.
In November 2025, a Newport News jury sided with Zwerner and awarded her $10 million in damages against Parker. Zwerner had sought $40 million. The jury found Parker liable after a trial centered on whether she had been grossly negligent in responding to the warnings. Zwerner no longer works for the school district and has said she does not plan to return to teaching.
Parker separately faced eight felony child neglect charges arising from her alleged response to the warnings. That criminal case ended in May 2026 when Newport News Circuit Court Judge Rebecca Robinson dismissed all eight counts during Parker’s trial. Robinson ruled after prosecutors presented their case that the alleged conduct did not constitute a crime under Virginia law. The dismissal did not overturn or otherwise change the earlier civil verdict in Zwerner’s favor.
Taylor also faced state and federal cases connected to the gun. She pleaded guilty in state court to felony child neglect and was sentenced to two years in prison. In a separate federal prosecution, she pleaded guilty to illegally possessing the firearm while using marijuana and making a false statement about her drug use on a federal firearm form. She received a 21-month federal sentence, bringing her prison terms from the two cases to nearly four years.
The newly released footage does not change the legal outcomes stemming from the shooting, but it adds a previously unavailable public record of what officers encountered immediately afterward. Zwerner survived her injuries and later prevailed in her civil case, the criminal charges against Parker were dismissed, and the child was not prosecuted. The body-camera recording remains one of the clearest public records of the police response in the minutes after the classroom shooting.
Author note: Last updated October 9, 2026.