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‘I don’t care if I go to jail’: Video shows defiant 6-year-old moments after shooting teacher

The video was unsealed after a judge dismissed the former assistant principal’s criminal case and after Zwerner won $10 million in damages.

  • Authorities released body-camera footage from the January 6, 2023, shooting at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, showing the 6-year-old student cursing and screaming at police officers immediately after the incident.
  • During the shooting, the student fired at teacher Abigail Zwerner, with the bullet tearing through her hand before lodging in her chest. A doctor later testified that removing the bullet would be far more dangerous than leaving it in place.
  • Last year, a jury awarded Zwerner $10 million in damages, finding that former assistant principal Ebony Parker displayed gross negligence by ignoring warnings the child had a gun in his backpack.
  • The child's mother, Deja Taylor, received legal consequences; in 2023 she was sentenced to two years in prison on a state felony child neglect charge and 21 months on a federal weapons charge.
  • Courts initially sealed the video during Parker's criminal trial, which faced dismissal in May; after the judge ruled she committed no crime under state law, the court ordered release with the child's face blurred.
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NBC News broke the news in New York, United States on Thursday, October 8, 2026.
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