Special grand jury report released in Richneck school shooting

The 11-member panel also recommended a criminal investigation of a high-ranking member of the Newport News School District for obstructing the investigation into the high-profile shooting after key evidence – the boy's disciplinary records – went missing.

The special grand jury reserved its harshest verdicts for Richneck's former assistant principal, Ebony Parker, who was warned three times the day of the shooting that the boy had a gun but took no action.

“DR. “Given the seriousness of the information she received on January 6, 2023, Parker's lack of response and initiative is shocking,” the panel wrote in its 24-page report.

The special grand jury was appointed by Newport News Commonwealth's Attorney Howard E. Gwynn to examine whether any security lapses that contributed to last year's shooting that seriously injured Zwerner drew national attention and led to the downfall of the Headmaster led.

The report was released a day after the special grand jury returned its indictment against Parker. Parker faces eight counts of child molestation, which experts say may be the first time an administrator has been charged with handling a school shooting.

Gwynn's office declined to comment on what prompted the charges, but a $40 million lawsuit filed by Zwerner alleges Parker ignored multiple warnings from teachers and other staff that the boy had a gun on the day of the shooting have had.

Parker's attorney did not respond to requests for comment but disputed Zwerner's allegations in a response to her lawsuit filed in court. Parker is scheduled to appear in Newport News Circuit Court Thursday morning. After the shooting, she resigned from Richneck.

The incident began when the 6-year-old took his mother's gun from his purse on the dresser on January 6, 2023 and brought it to school in his backpack.

Zwerner's lawsuit alleges that she warned Parker that day that the boy was in a “violent mood” and had threatened to beat up a kindergartener, but Parker did nothing. Zwerner claims it was one of several moments when Parker could have intervened to prevent the shooting.

Later that day, two students told a reading specialist that the boy said he had a gun, according to the lawsuit. The reading specialist questioned the boy, but he denied having a weapon and did not allow the teacher to search his backpack.

During the break that followed, Zwerner told the reading specialist that she thought she saw the boy pull something out of his backpack and put it in his pocket, the lawsuit says. The reading specialist searched the boy's backpack but did not find the weapon. The reading specialist then told Parker that the students told her the boy had a gun.

Zwerner's lawsuit alleges that a student told another teacher that the boy showed the classmate a gun on the playground during recess. The teacher also got the information to Parker through an intermediary.

Shortly before the shooting, a counselor asked Parker to search the boy for a weapon, but she denied his request, Zwerner's lawsuit says. The boy pulled out the gun and fired a single shot at her, hitting her hand and chest.

Zwerner was taken to the hospital and a teacher handcuffed the boy.

Deja Taylor, the boy's mother, was convicted of firearms violations and child neglect in federal and state courts after the shooting. Taylor admitted lying about her marijuana use during the background check to purchase the gun and failing to keep the gun secret from her son. She is currently serving a prison sentence.

Gwynn empaneled the special grand jury in April 2023 and asked it to “investigate any acts or omissions of current or former employees of the Newport News School System that may have contributed to this shooting.”

The panel began hearing testimony in September. She heard from 19 witnesses and collected hundreds of pages of documents and videos to compile her report. Under Virginia law, special grand juries have broad investigative powers.