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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Emine Sinmaz

Teacher tells court she thought she had died after six-year-old shot her in Virginia school

a women sits in a courtroom
Abby Zwerner in court on 28 October 2025 in Newport News, Virginia. Photograph: Stephen M Katz/AP

A first-grade teacher who was shot by her six-year-old student in 2023 has told a court she thought she had actually died that day and was on her way to heaven after being severely wounded.

Abby Zwerner is suing the school’s former assistant principal, Ebony Parker, for $40m after she was shot in the hand and chest as she sat at the reading table in her classroom at Richneck elementary school in Newport News, Virginia, on 6 January 2023.

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