The Virginia teacher who was a former employee at Richneck elementary school was reportedly fired because she wouldn’t drop her lawsuit, her attorney claims.
Abby Zwerner was shot by a 6-year-old in January and now no longer works at the school. The school division claims Zwerner resigned but her attorney went over a few emails that he says read that she was fired.
WAVY spoke Tuesday with Zwerner’s attorney Jeffrey Breit, and he said “I don’t think you can read this any other way than you’ve been fired,” Breit said. “And that’s what she thinks. She doesn’t understand it; there’s no other communication.”
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According to NNPS Spokesperson Michelle Price, Zwerner notified the school system in March that she would not be returning.
The email that Ms. Zwerner received from the Human Resources Department is a confirmation of her separation of service from Newport News Public Schools. Every employee who is separating from the school division receives a similar communication. Ms. Zwerner notified the Human Resources Department that she was resigning from her position as a teacher for NNPS on March 13, 2023.
Ms. Zwerner was an employee of Newport News Public Schools until June 12, 2023, the last day of her contract.
Zwerner also did an interview with NBC and revealed that the bullet is still in her chest.
“I remember him pointing the gun at me; I remember the look on his face; I remember the gun going off. It’s changed me. It’s changed my life,” she recalled.
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Additionally, she thanked the public for supporting her after they learned she saved her students by placing them in another classroom before asking for help.
“My initial reaction was – your children need to get out of here. This is not a safe classroom anymore. You need to get them out of here, and then you need to go find help for yourself. just wanted to get my babies out of there. I didn’t know at the time that my lung had collapsed, but I started not being able to breathe, very raspy breaths, and my vision started going out. I remember I went to the office and I just passed out. I thought I had died.”