NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — One year after Abby Zwerner’s legal team revealed Richneck Elementary School administrators ignored multiple warnings that a 6-year-old student had a gun, a special grand jury's report backs up their claims.
“It confirmed my initial account in what they called a 'tragic and avoidable event,''" said Diane Toscano, one of the former first-grade teacher's attorneys.
Toscano, along with co-council Kevin Biniazan, thanked the Newport News Commonwealth Attorney’s office and the grand jury for that report, which stated former Richneck Assistant Principal Ebony Parker dismissed four separate warnings the day Zwerner was shot and seriously hurt by the 6-year-old boy.
“When somebody comes into your office and says that there’s a gun on campus, looking away from a computer screen should be a given. Taking immediate action, whatever it may be, should be a given,” said Biniazan.
Toscano said reading that report, she was aware the boy had multiple bullets but learned the gun jammed, preventing the child from shooting Zwerner again.
She said the most surprising revelation was reading about the missing disciplinary documents about the child. The report said in part "it is at its best a complete lack of competence as to how things were run and recorded and at its worst a cover-up for the child's past disciplinary record by the school administration.”
“If the citizen panel believes that this may have been a 'cover-up' -- which is their words -- I have no reason to doubt them,” said Toscano.
Toscano said Zwerner is feeling a range of emotions while going through the report, and added the grand jury spoke “loudly and clearly”.
“They said it ain’t over yet. They said we have not forgotten. They said no, Newport News School leadership, you will not escape accountability for this tragedy.”
Biniazan said the report shows everyone did their job that day, except for the former assistant principal.
“There was one person who was the aggregate of information. There’s one person who stood above it all and knew and heard and should have seen everything,” Biniazan said.
Zwerner’s legal team just got the green light to move forward with their $40 million lawsuit and both attorneys said having this report helps them move forward.
“We’re gonna have to prove every fact in our own case, but what a criminal case and continuing investigation does, it that it provides resources to the truth."
When asked if they’ve heard from the Newport News School Board in the last 24 hours or if the board has previously tried to settle Zwerner’s lawsuit, Toscano said no.