Newly unsealed body camera footage from the Newport News Police Department shows officers and sheriff's deputies responding after a 6-year-old student shot teacher Abby Zwerner inside a first-grade classroom at Richneck Elementary School.
The video was released after court proceedings and captures the child's interaction with officers following the shooting.
Officer Brian Torrez's body camera recorded the response as officers entered the classroom and found the student, identified as J.
T. in court records, being restrained by reading specialist Amy Kovac.
According to The Virginian-Pilot, the firearm was found across the room and contained seven additional rounds.
Kovac directed officers toward the weapon after telling them the child had acknowledged possessing it.
"The gun is there. He just admitted that he had one," Kovac told officers.
The footage shows the officers securing the scene while avoiding moving the firearm before additional support arrived.
The student began shouting at officers after a sheriff's deputy located the gun.
"Both y'all want a fucking piece of me, bitch?!" J.
T. yelled.
"Fuck you, bitch," J. T.
said.
Kovac told officers she had heard the gunshot and found the teacher bleeding.
She also described the student's school schedule and the circumstances before the incident.
"I told the [assistant principal] that there was a threat earlier about it," Kovac said.
J. T.
responded while continuing the confrontation with people in the classroom.
"That n**ga retired last year," J. T.
said.
The footage also captured officers discussing how to handle the child after the weapon was located.
"You can stay for now," Officer Brian Torrez told Kovac.
After officers asked about the firearm's location, J. T.
answered while continuing to use profanity.
"It's over there, whore," J. T.
said.
Kovac attempted to correct the child's behavior during the interaction.
"That's not how we speak to each other," Kovac said.
J. T.
continued yelling at Kovac during the encounter.
"Fuck you," J. T.
said.
The child later admitted taking the gun from his mother's purse that morning, according to court documents cited by The Virginian-Pilot.
"Fuck you. Fuck you, bitch," J.
T. said.
After giving officers his name, J. T.
continued making statements toward police.
"If you want a piece of me, come get it on, bitch. I don't care if you call backup.
I don't care if I go to jail, bitch," J. T.
said.
Kovac continued speaking with the child and officers after the outburst.
"We know you know that language — and you know that's not appropriate," Kovac said.
Kovac followed with a statement about her reaction to the student's language.
"Mrs. Kovac's NOT happy with that," Kovac said.
The video later captured a sound that appeared to be a punch while Torrez's hands covered the camera.
Kovac testified that the child punched her during the incident.
"You're done," Kovac said.
The footage was admitted as evidence during the May trial of former Richneck assistant principal Ebony Parker, who faced eight child neglect charges from a special grand jury in 2023.
Circuit Court Judge Rebecca M. Robinson later dismissed all eight charges.
The Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot later sought permission to distribute the video, and the court allowed release with the child's face blurred.
Teacher Abby Zwerner suffered serious injuries, spent nearly two weeks in the hospital and underwent six surgeries, according to PBS News.
Zwerner described the moments after being shot in an interview with PBS News.
"I thought I was either on my way to heaven or in heaven," Zwerner told PBS News.
She continued describing her memory of the aftermath of the shooting.
"But then it all got black. And so, I then thought I wasn't going there.
And then my next memory is I see two co-workers around me and I process that I'm hurt and they're putting pressure on where I'm hurt," Zwerner told PBS News.
