™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Newton at all,” her attorney, Pamela Branch, said in February.īranch did not say who may have been informed the student had a gun that day. “The fact of the matter is that those who were aware that the student may have had a gun on the premises that day did not report this to Mrs. Newton was reassigned after the shooting. Toscano alleged the administration “failed to act” despite having “knowledge of imminent danger.”Īn attorney for Briana Foster Newton, the former principal at the elementary school, has said her client did not know the student had a gun at school that day. “Over the course of a few hours, three different times - three times - school administration was warned by concerned teachers and employees that the boy had a gun on him at the school and was threatening people,” attorney Diane Toscano told reporters in a late January news conference. The teacher’s attorney has also alleged school officials were notified multiple times about the gun’s presence on the day of the shooting. When he returned from the suspension to Zwerner’s classroom, he shot her, the notice alleged.įormer principal denied knowing the boy had a gun The shooting was followed by weeks of questions from concerned community members about how school officials had responded to earlier instances of alleged violent behavior.Ī January 24 legal notice sent to the Newport News School Board by Zwerner’s attorney alleged that the boy had a history of disturbing behavior, including cursing at staff members, trying to whip students with his belt and choking a teacher.Īccording to that document, the student was suspended for a day after he allegedly “slammed” and broke Zwerner’s cell phone and cursed at guidance counselors. The gun had been legally purchased, authorities have said. In a later statement to CNN, the attorney representing the child’s family said the gun was kept at the top shelf of the mother’s bedroom closet and was secured by a trigger lock, but did not specify how the boy was able to access the weapon. The week of the shooting was the first week the boy’s parents were not in class with him, they said in their statement, adding, “We will regret our absence on this day for the rest of our lives.” In a statement released roughly two weeks after the shooting, the boy’s family said the “firearm our son accessed was secured.” The family’s statement went on to say that the child has an “acute disability and was under a care plan at the school that included his mother or father attending school with him and accompanying him to class every day.” In a January interview with CNN, the police chief said there was “certainly a possibility” the 6-year-old boy’s mother could face charges connected to the January shooting.Īuthorities have not shared many details about the child accused of firing at his teacher. Similar to his comments to the affiliate this week, Gwynn told CNN on February 24 his office was reviewing the facts and added, “Any person we can charge and convict beyond a reasonable doubt, we will charge.” Gwynn told CNN in February his office had received “three binders” of investigative material from police and would also be reviewing hours’ worth of police body camera footage. “It’s not something we wanted to rush through.” “We had a lot of witnesses, a lot of students, a lot of children to interview and that took a long process,” police chief Steve Drew said in a February 21 Facebook live briefing. Newport News Police said late last month they had completed their investigation into the shooting and presented it to the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office. Police investigated for more than a month
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