A U.S. court on Thursday awarded $10 million in damages to a former teacher who was shot by a 6-year-old student at her school.
In January 2023, a child shot 28-year-old Abby Zwerner at an elementary school in Newport News, Virginia, causing her to be shot in the hand and chest. She remained in the hospital for two weeks.
The teacher filed a lawsuit against the school's assistant principal, Ebony Parker, accusing her of ignoring warnings about the child bringing a gun to school.
The teacher had sought $40 million in damages for gross negligence. During the trial, she testified that she briefly thought she was going to die.
The boy's mother, who shot the teacher, was sentenced to nearly four years in prison after being convicted of child neglect and a weapons-related charge.
The child, in turn, faced no criminal charges.
While incidents involving young children and firearms in their homes are common in the United States, school shootings by children under the age of ten are rare.
A database compiled by American researcher David Riedman has documented nearly 15 such incidents since the 1970s.
