Report calls teacher's death a 'preventable event' in Virginia shooting

(CNN) — 2023 Virginia elementary school shooting of 6-year-old student He shot his teacher It was an “avoidable situation,” a special jury said in a newly released report, citing “poor results” ahead of the trial.

An 11-member panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2023, shooting at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News found a “shocking” lack of response from the former vice principal despite several warnings about the boy, the report said.

The report, dated March 11, but made public this Wednesday, highlights a series Security Deficits and “Multiple Behavioral Problems” The boy was involved before the shooting that injured first-grade teacher Abigail Schwerner.

Former Vice Principal of the School, Ebony ParkerOn the day of the shooting, the special grand jury report said it received four reports that the student had a gun and “failed to take any action” after receiving reports of a “dangerous threat.”

The report says Parker and other administrators were “responsible for making poor decisions about the boy” and “dismissing his teachers' concerns” before the day of the shooting.

“Despite the fact that the boy had sufficiently significant behavioral problems that Dr. Parker knew he had been physically removed from school the previous year, he was placed in Ms. Schwerner's first-grade class for a total enrollment of 23 students”.

The 6-year-old boy was not searched or removed from class the day of the shooting — including “three different students in two hours” — despite warnings that the student had a gun, the report said. .

Parker resigned three weeks after filming Eight charges were laid Child abuse and neglect charges were indicted by a special grand jury last month, according to court records.

The panel noted the lack of evidence in the case, including the boy's disciplinary records, and said another school district administrator should be investigated “to determine whether she should be criminally charged with obstruction of justice.”

“At best, this is a complete incompetence in how things are managed and recorded and at worst, a cover-up of the child's prior disciplinary history by the school administration.” , the report says.

CNN has reached out to Richneck Public Elementary School and Ebonie Parker's attorney. Newport News Public Schools declined to comment when contacted by CNN.

Schwerner, the teacher, filed a $40 million lawsuit last year against the school board and administrators, alleging they ignored warning signs and knew of the students' “history of random violence,” CNN previously reported.

“The grand jury report reveals a systemic failure that led to Abby Zwerner's murder. The apparent cover-up of disciplinary records before and after the shooting is shocking. We are grateful for the work of the special grand jury and the responses they provided to this community,” Zwerner's attorneys told CNN.