Virginia administrator faces charges after warnings of gun in 6-year-old's backpack were ignored

Opening statements in a Virginia trial claim assistant principal Ebony Parker ignored repeated warnings that a 6-year-old student had a gun, which was later used to injure teacher Abby Zwerner at Richneck Elementary. Parker faces eight counts of felony child neglect; the defense argues others should have acted, while Parker is blamed for not reporting the threat or removing students. The case notes school policy required crisis reporting, the security officer was unavailable, and the principal was unaware of the threat. The episode followed a separate civil ruling awarding Zwerner $10 million, and the student’s mother had earlier been sentenced to prison.