Abby Zwerner is suing school administrators for $40Mln, three months after she was shot by a six-year-old pupil, the media has reported.
She claims that the school administrators ignored requests to search the pupil amid multiple reports of a firearm on school property and probably in the boy's possession. Zwerner states in her claim that, having suffered wounds to the hand and the chest, she now experiences "physical pain and mental anguish" and is seeking a jury trial.
The Newport News school board, former superintendent George Parker III, former Richneck Elementary School principal Briana Foster Newton, and former assistant principal Ebony Parker are all named as defendants in the lawsuit.
On 6 January, in the US state of Virginia, a fight between an elementary school pupil and teacher Abby Zwerner culminated in the shooting and hospitalization of the teacher. Zwerner sustained severe wounds to her arm and chest but luckily doctors were able to save her life.
After the incident, the boy was detained by police, but so far no charges have been brought against the schoolboy or his parents, as Virginia law does not prosecute six-year-old children. After the incident, the school director was fired and his deputy resigned from his job.