Defense expert testifies ex-assistant principal met standards in teacher shooting case

By Chris Boyette, Jean Casarez, CNN

(CNN) — An expert for the defense in the $40 million lawsuit filed by a former Virginia elementary school teacher shot by a 6-year-old student with a history of disciplinary problems testified Monday the assistant principal did not breach professional standards or act with indifference.

Former Assistant Principal Ebony Parker is accused of ignoring red flags that might have averted the 2023 shooting. Dr. Amy Klinger, an expert in education administration and school safety, said it would have been difficult for anyone to foresee the incident.

Lawyers for the teacher, Abby Zwerner, rested their case last week.

The civil trial could set a precedent for holding school officials accountable for gun violence on campus and comes ahead of Parker’s criminal trial next month on eight counts of felony child neglect.

School safety is a shared responsibility

Klinger testified the assistant principal’s role is collaborative and school safety is a shared responsibility among all staff, not just one individual. “No one is the sole person responsible for school safety,” she said.

She explained that assessing threats requires gathering credible information from those closest to the situation and that not every concern warrants an immediate or aggressive response.

Parker did not breach professional standards or act with indifference, Klinger said, and it would have been difficult for anyone to foresee the incident, especially given the rarity of a 6-year-old bringing a weapon to school.

Klinger also said crisis plans provide guidance but require professional judgment and flexibility.

During cross-examination, Zwerner’s attorney, Kevin Biniazan, questioned whether Parker should have taken more proactive steps after being told a specific student was reported to have a gun, rather than waiting for more information.

He highlighted Parker did not attempt to identify or speak directly with the students who reported the gun and pressed Klinger on whether this was sufficient effort to get “good information.”

Biniazan emphasized Parker was aware of the possibility of a firearm on campus for about an hour and questioned whether her actions in that time were adequate.

He asked Klinger to rate the likelihood of a gun being on campus at various points in the day, suggesting the risk increased as more information was received, and challenged whether Parker’s response — such as not searching the student or calling a lockdown — was an “underreaction.”

Earlier, Dr. Leigh Hagan, a board-certified forensic and clinical psychologist also testifying for the defense, said he reviewed extensive records to assess whether proper forensic standards were followed in forming mental health opinions for the court, though he did not personally evaluate Zwerner or offer opinions on her diagnosis or liability.

He testified a mental health expert’s opinion is enhanced when they look at all of the information.

“There is a responsibility … that you have the full movie of the person’s life, rather than a snapshot,” he said.

Parker, who resigned two weeks after the shooting, argues she is not responsible for the student harming his teacher and had no legal duty to intervene. Damages are not warranted, Parker argues, because Zwerner has moved on with her life.

Zwerner’s pain and suffering have been the focus of the trial so far, and Parker’s defense team this week is expected to continue to press Zwerner on whether there was more she could have done between learning of the possible gun threat and when she was shot.

Zwerner’s lawsuit alleges Parker ignored “warnings from teachers and staff that students had seen the firearm” and the student had “removed an object that was likely a firearm from his backpack before it was searched.”

Poor decisions led to the “avoidable” shooting, a grand jury report found last April.

Teacher said she thought she was going to die

Zwerner on Thursday testified she thought her wounds were dire.

“I thought I was dying. I thought I had died,” the former first-grade teacher said as she recounted being shot in the hand and chest while sitting at a reading table in her classroom at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News.

Zwerner has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, a psychiatrist testified, and her hand will never be normal, even after six surgeries, an orthopedic surgeon said.

Zwerner also has changed since the shooting more than two years ago, her twin sister said.

“She’s just not the person that she was,” Hannah Zwerner testified last week.

Parker also faces criminal charges

As school shootings continue to plague US campuses, this civil trial could serve as a roadmap for the upcoming criminal case against Parker, which itself could set a broader precedent.

Attempts to hold school officials criminally accountable for school shootings are rare, said Darryl K. Brown, a law professor at the University of Virginia.

It is also rare for civil cases to precede criminal ones, but it could be strategic in the case of Parker, who faces eight counts of felony child neglect in her trial next month, legal experts say.

“I suspect that defense would want the civil trial to go forward first, because they’re not going to be able to avoid it, and it gives them a lot of information about what would come in at the criminal trial,” Brown said.

Already, the mother of the child who shot Zwerner has been sentenced to two years in prison for child neglect, the school board voted out the superintendent and the principal was reassigned to another school.

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