A Virginia teacher who was shot by her six-year-old student had sent emails expressing concern about the troubled youngster.
In a warning to administrators about the unnamed boy's conduct inside the classroom, Abigail Zwerner claimed that the child stuck up his middle finger at another student and bumped "into a classmate while running around the class," before allegedly shoving his victim to the floor. She also said she felt "uncomfortable" with him coming back to her classroom.
"As of today, I do not feel comfortable with him returning to my classroom today…," she added in the email to then-Principal Briana Foster Newton and then-Assistant Principal Ebony Parker, per documents obtained by 13News Now,
Parker suggested setting up a meeting with the child's father in order to discuss his "behavioral difficulties" and "put some things in place to support" him, according to another email on November 22, as seen by the news outlet.
Shortly before her student opened fire, Zwerner had, according to reports, messaged someone from her personal life, informing them that the boy had a gun in his backpack.
Following the attack, the boy's family told the district that he "suffers from an acute disability and was under a care plan at the school that included his mother or father attending school with him and accompanying him to class every day."
They said that the week the incident took place "was the first week when we were not in class with him. We will regret our absence on this day for the rest of our lives."
The lawyer for former Principal Foster Newton said she had not been told that the youngster was carrying a firearm on the day of the altercation.
"It continues to be reported that unidentified school administrators were aware the 6-year-old student had a gun at school on Jan. 6 and simply failed to act," attorney Pamela Branch told reporters last week.
"Mrs. Newton has been assumed to be one of those administrators; however, this is far from the truth," she said. "The fact of the matter is those who were aware the student had a gun on the premises that day did not report it to Ms. Newton."
Newton and Parker both handed in their notice after it emerged that administrators had reportedly been warned multiple times that day about the boy having a gun on him.
Zwerner's lawyer Diane Toscano claims school staffers told administrators he was carrying the deadly weapon but that no further action was taken.
According to the attorney, Zwerner plans to launch a lawsuit against the school district over the "entirely preventable" event.
After being shot in the chest and hand, the teacher managed to get her students out of harm's way before she was taken to the hospital.
The Virginia Senate has since passed a resolution praising the heroic teacher.
The resolution reads: "Despite life-threatening injuries, Abby Zwerner ushered her students to safety in another room and was the last person to exit the classroom where the shooting took place; no students were injured," and "then alerted the school administrator to call for assistance."
The child's mother had purchased the 9mm gun legally and has not been charged with a crime, officials confirmed.
