NEWPORT NEWS, Va. â When police entered the first-grade classroom, reading specialist Amy Kovac was holding a six-year-old boy in a bear hug. His teacher had been shot, and officers were trying to locate the handgun.
Nearly three minutes of newly unsealed body-camera footage have brought those moments back into public view, almost four years after the January 6, 2023, shooting of Abigail âAbbyâ Zwerner at Richneck Elementary School.
The recording, published in reporting on October 6, 2026, captures the aftermath of the shooting. Its release comes after Zwerner won a $10 million civil verdict against former assistant principal Ebony Parker and a judge dismissed Parkerâs separate criminal charges.
Behind the boyâs remarks, now circulating widely online, is the longer story of a teacherâs lasting injuries, warnings about a possible gun and the question of who should have intervened.
Inside the classroom after Abby Zwerner was shot
According to reporting citing The Virginian-Pilotâs account of the unsealed video, Zwerner had begun an afternoon reading lesson when the child pulled a handgun from his jacket pocket and fired.
The bullet passed through her raised left hand and entered her chest. Students fled the room, and Zwerner subsequently collapsed in the school office.
Kovac told the court she heard the gunshot, called 911 and found Zwerner bleeding. She restrained the boy as officers arrived.
Officer Brian Torrezâs camera recorded the child repeatedly swearing at Kovac and the responding officers. A sheriffâs deputy located the handgun on the classroom floor.
âMy mom had that! I stole that from my mom!â the boy said, according to reporting on the recording.
The footage also captures Kovac telling officers that she had raised an earlier warning with the assistant principal. She explained that the boy attended on a modified schedule and that this was his first week without his mother accompanying him in class, according to the published account of the footage.
The video became public following a court-records challenge. The Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot sought to unseal it in June 2026, while Parkerâs lawyers asked in July that it remain sealed. It had been played during her May criminal trial, according to reporting on the release.
For Zwerner, survival did not mean recovery was complete. By May 2026, reporting documented six surgeries, restricted use of her left hand and a bullet still lodged in her chest.
During her 2025 civil trial, she recalled the moment she lost awareness: âI thought I had died.â She described later seeing colleagues pressing on her injuries, according to ABC Newsâ courtroom coverage.
The warnings, the $10 million verdict and the dismissed charges
The legal cases focused on what happened before the gun was fired.
Prosecutors alleged that several employees warned Parker the child might have a firearm. A search of his backpack found no gun. Zwerner testified that he kept both hands in the pockets of an oversized jacket during recess, and she texted that observation to Kovac.
A school counsellor also sought permission to search the child, but Parker refused, prosecutors alleged. Her defence disputed criminal responsibility and argued that other staff members could have intervened, according to APâs trial reporting.
Zwernerâs lawsuit sought $40 million. On November 6, 2025, a jury found Parker grossly negligent and awarded Zwerner $10 million, with interest beginning June 1, 2024. Parker was the remaining defendant after the school board and two other administrators were dismissed from the suit.
âA gun changes everything. You stop and you investigate,â Zwernerâs attorney Kevin Biniazan told the civil jury. Parkerâs defence argued that the case should be judged on decisions made at the time, rather than hindsight.
The civil verdict was followed by a different outcome in criminal court. On May 21, 2026, Circuit Judge Rebecca Robinson dismissed all eight criminal counts after prosecutors finished presenting their evidence.
âThe court is of the legal opinion that this is not a crime,â Robinson said, according to ABC Newsâ report on the dismissal.
Parkerâs lawyer argued that a lapse in judgment did not establish a criminal offence. The dismissal did not overturn the separate civil verdict, and the $10 million award should not be confused with confirmation that Zwerner has received payment.
Zwernerâs lawyers said the ruling removed the cityâs argument that possible criminal conduct could justify denying insurance coverage in the civil case.
The childâs mother, Deja Taylor, faced separate prosecutions. On November 15, 2023, she received a 21-month federal prison sentence for possessing a firearm while using marijuana and making a false statement about drug use when buying the gun.
On December 15, 2023, Taylor received a two-year state sentence for felony child neglect, to run consecutively to the federal sentence.
The boy was not prosecuted. Commonwealthâs Attorney Howard Gwynn said in March 2023 that authorities did not believe the law supported charging and convicting a six-year-old of aggravated assault. He cited the childâs age and the issue of criminal intent, according to 13News Now.
School emergency procedures have remained a concern in Virginia, including during the separate evacuation of Westwood Hills Elementary in Waynesboro in September 2026.
For Zwerner, the consequences of the Richneck shooting have extended far beyond the classroom. She resigned from teaching and later completed a cosmetology programme. The newly public recording returns attention to the minutes after she was shotâand to the warnings that came before them.
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