After Newport News police concluded their investigation last month, the local prosecutor’s office is reviewing the case to determine whether anyone should face criminal charges. Newport News Commonwealth’s Attorney Howard Gwynn said he wouldn’t seek charges against the 6-year-old given that a child that young wouldn’t have the competency to understand the legal system or adequately assist an attorney.
A lawyer representing Zwerner said she expects to file a lawsuit in two weeks after she sent the Newport News school board an intent-to-sue notice almost three weeks after the shooting. The notice alleges that over a few hours on Jan. 6, the school employees warned an assistant principal three different times that the student was armed but that she failed to call police or institute a lockdown.
“There were failures on multiple levels in this case, and there were adults that were in positions of authority that could have prevented this tragedy from happening and did not,” lawyer Diane Toscano said Monday.
Toscano has said the boy had behavioral issues and a pattern of troubling interactions with school staff members and other students. The notice of intent to sue said he was suspended for one day for breaking Zwerner’s cellphone and returned the next day with the 9 mm handgun he used to shoot her.
The boy’s family said in a statement that the weapon had been “secured” in the home and that they have “always been committed to responsible gun ownership and keeping firearms out of the reach of children.”
The family also said the boy has an acute disability and, in the wake of the shooting, was receiving the “treatment he needs” in court-ordered temporary detention at a medical facility.
Police said the child’s mother bought the gun he used legally, but they haven’t specified how he obtained it or whether it was safely secured, as the family has claimed.
James Ellenson, a lawyer for the family, said in an email Monday that they “welcome the prosecutor’s decision” not to seek charges and that they “continue to pray for Ms. Zwerner’s complete recovery.”
Toscano declined to comment about the decision not to charge the boy but said, “I do feel that there are people that need to be held accountable.”
A spokeswoman for Newport News Public Schools didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. She has previously said the district couldn’t comment about allegations against school officials in an ongoing internal investigation nor share any information in the student’s educational record, citing the criminal investigation.
As a result of the shooting, the school board installed full-time security and metal detectors at Richneck.
Zwerner, meanwhile, said she’s taking each day at a time. She comes from a family of educators, including her mother and her sister. After having graduated from James Madison University in Virginia, she began her career teaching virtually during the Covid pandemic.
In 2020, her father, John, a veteran Newport News firefighter and paramedic, died unexpectedly at home.
Her job as a teacher became a bright spot in her life, and the first time she stepped foot in her classroom at Richneck was life-affirming.
“It was amazing. It was the moment that you had been waiting for. Like, this is what I’ve been practicing. This is what I’ve studied,” Zwerner said. “It’s finally here.”
But almost dying has changed her, she said, and she’s uncertain whether returning to the classroom will be in her future. Even getting out of bed for physical therapy can be grueling, she added.
“I’m not sure when the shock will ever go away because of just how surreal it was and, you know, the vivid memories that I have of that day. I think about it daily,” Zwerner said. “Sometimes I have nightmares.”
For now, she is grateful for the cards and messages of hope and resilience from strangers who’ve learned of her story.
On her right wrist is a charm bracelet that reads “Smile.” She does so when she thinks of the young faces of her students, who she is thankful weren’t hurt.
“I love each and every one of them. I’m very grateful that they’re all alive and they’re safe and they’re healthy,” she said. “And I just miss them dearly.”
Chelsea Damberg contributed.