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An education expert provided damning testimony Wednesday in the $40 million civil trial of a former assistant principal in Virginia accused of ignoring warnings before a 6-year-old opened fire in his classroom, injuring first-grade teacher Abigail Zwerner. Ann Shufflebarger, an expert on school administration called by Zwerner’s attorneys, testified that there were four times that people alerted former assistant principal Ebony Parker to the gun they believed the student brought to school in a backpack. Those interactions, Shufflebarger said, gave Parker “one more level of information, one more opportunity to do what’s needed for safety." "There are many things that needed to be done, and none of those were done at that time." Shufflebarger testified that it was Parker’s job to confiscate the backpack, secure and search the student and contact law enforcement. The testimony came one day after attorneys representing Zwerner and Parker delivered opening statements in a Virginia courtroom over the circumstances surrounding the shooting at Richneck Elementary in Newport News on Jan. 6, 2023. Bodycam video and images were released publicly on Wednesday, showing law enforcement officers entering the school and treating the teacher after the shooting. The bullet ripped through Zwerner's hand before it struck her in the chest, where it remains lodged. A doctor testifying Wednesday compared the wound to a war injury and said it is far more dangerous to try and remove the bullet than to leave it in place. A lawyer representing Parker said that no one could have predicted that a 6-year-old would bring a gun to school. And the law, said the attorney, Daniel Hogan, “requires you to examine people’s decisions at the time in light of the information that they had.” A Richneck teacher testified Tuesday that she told Parker about the weapon three times after students told her the boy had a gun in his backpack. Another teacher testified that she relayed the same concern to Parker after a different student alerted her to the gun. Zwerner's attorneys are expected to rest their case Thursday. Separately, Parker was indicted last year on multiple counts of felony child abuse and neglect after a grand jury found her lack of response "shocking." Each count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. It isn't clear if Parker has entered a plea. The attorney in her civil case did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
