Abigail Zwerner, a first-grade teacher at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, was 25 when a six-year-old student shot her in the hand and chest on January 6, 2023. The shooting left her with severe physical injuries and emotional trauma, transforming an ordinary school day into a life-altering ordeal.
According to accounts surrounding the incident, Zwerner had been interacting with the boy before he produced a handgun and fired at her in the classroom. The weapon was his mother’s 9mm Taurus pistol, which prosecutors said he had taken from their home. The bullet passed through Zwerner’s hand and entered her upper chest, leaving her critically injured…