USA – New body camera footage has revealed what a six-year-old boy told police shortly after he shot his teacher, Abby Zwerner, in a classroom in Virginia in 2023. The boy admitted, among other things, to stealing his mother's 9mm pistol. The video was made public this week after it was unsealed by a court order.
The boy shot his teacher in the hand and chest. Zwerner sustained serious injuries, but survived. No students were injured in the shooting.
Brian Torrez, a police officer who was on the scene, recorded on his body camera how reading specialist Amy Kovac held the child when police officers entered the Richneck Elementary School classroom in Newport News. The boy, identified only as J.T. in court documents, repeatedly swore at and challenged adults and police according to the footage. He stated, among other things, that he had stolen the firearm from his mother.
The video was used as evidence during the criminal trial of former assistant principal Ebony Parker. The Virginian Pilot and Daily Press contested its sealing in court, whereupon the judge ordered the footage to be released, provided the child's face is not clearly visible. The boy was not criminally charged due to his age. His mother pleaded guilty to a charge of felony child neglect and was sentenced to prison. Zwerner later won a civil case against Parker and received compensation of $10 million.
Sources: CNN, The Virginian Pilot, Daily Press
This article is an automatic English translation of a Nuusflits article originally published in Afrikaans. Read the Afrikaans original.
