Newly released body-cam video shows moments after 6-year-old shot Newport News teacher

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Newly released body camera footage provides new details about the moments immediately following the January 6, 2023, shooting of Richneck Elementary School teacher Abby Zwerner by her 6-year-old student in Newport News, Virginia.

What we know:

Although the video was previously used as evidence in court, the public had never seen the footage until now.

In the less than three-minute video, police officers enter the classroom where a reading specialist was holding the boy back. An officer recovers the firearm as the specialist informs police that the child admitted to having a weapon and noted, "he is six years old."

The body camera footage shows the first-grader acting combative and cursing at the reading specialist and responding officers. When asked if he was hurt when he fired the gun, the child replies no and shows his hands, which an officer observes appear to have gun residue.

READ MORE | Virginia teacher shot by 6-year-old still worries, a year later, about other students in the room

The boy also tells officers how he obtained the weapon, stating, "My mom had that. I stole that from my mom."

As officers attempt to speak with him, the boy responds with foul language and defiance, stating, "I don’t care if you call backup; I don’t care if I go to jail," to which an adult responds that the language is not appropriate.

Zwerner was shot once during the incident, with the bullet passing through her hand and lodging in her chest.

Because of his age, the child was too young to be charged with a crime under Virginia law. However, his mother was sentenced to nearly two years in prison, and Zwerner was awarded $10 million in a civil lawsuit.