The former assistant principal of a Virginia elementary school where a 6-year-old student shot his teacher in 2023 has been indicted on child abuse charges, court records show.
Parker is facing eight counts related to the day of the shooting, according to the online docket, each of which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. A warrant has been issued for her arrest, the docket shows.
Court records filed in Newport News Circuit Court were unsealed Tuesday, about a month after a grand jury filed the charges.
NBC News could not immediately obtain a copy of the indictment for details on the charges.
The Newport News Commonwealth Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment. It was not immediately known if Parker had legal representation and she could not be reached for comment.
The Jan. 6, 2023, shooting of first-grade teacher Abigail Zwerner raised concerns about potential security failures at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News and in a school district rattled by other incidents of gun violence at other campuses.
Authorities say Zwerner was intentionally shot by one of her students but escorted her panicked class to safety. A bullet ripped through Zwerner’s left hand, rupturing bones before it lodged in her upper chest, leaving behind fragments.
Three months after the classroom shooting, she filed a $40 million lawsuit against the school district alleging that administrators failed to listen to multiple warnings from staff and students that the child had a handgun. Parker resigned in the wake of the suit.
Lawyers for Zwerner welcomed additional charges in the case on Tuesday.
“These charges are very serious and underscore the failure of the school district to act to prevent the tragic shooting of Abby Zwerner,” attorneys Diane Toscano, Kevin Biniazan and Jeffrey Breit said in a statement. “The school board continues to deny their responsibility to Abby, and this indictment is just another brick in…
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