Later that morning, the lawsuit says, other students reported that the boy had a gun. After recess began at 12:30 p.m., the lawsuit contends, Zwerner told the reading specialist and another teacher that she had seen the 6-year-old taking something out of his backpack, and saw him going several times behind a rock climbing wall at recess.

The reading specialist searched the boy’s backpack and didn’t find a firearm. But when she went to Parker’s office to voice concern, the complaint says, the administrator dismissed the concern, saying the boy’s pockets were “too small” to carry a firearm.

When recess ended after 1 p.m., the complaint says, another student admitted to a teacher that the 6-year-old showed him the gun during recess — and threatened to harm him if he told anyone. That teacher called the school office, and told a Richneck music teacher what the other student said. But the complaint says Parker told the music teacher the boy’s bag “had already been searched.”

Then — when a school guidance counselor sought permission to search the boy — Parker again denied the request, saying the boy’s mother would soon be at the school to pick him up.

After the indictments became public on Tuesday, Zwerner’s legal team — attorneys Diane Toscano, Kevin Biniazan and Jeffrey Breit — released a statement calling the school system negligent in its actions.

“These charges are very serious and underscore the failure of the school district to act to prevent the tragic shooting of Abby Zwerner,” they said. “The school board continues to deny their responsibility to Abby, and this indictment is just another brick in the wall of mounting failures and gross negligence in their case.”

Emily Mapp Brannon, a Norfolk attorney who is representing the families of seven Richneck students in lawsuits against the school division, said the families “may find comfort in knowing that the administration is being held accountable.”

“The suffering of the students of Richneck has been ignored,” Brannon said. “These charges suggest that there is sufficient evidence that the students of Richneck were placed in peril by the very hands entrusted to protect them … I remain optimistic that our criminal justice system will provide answers to the Richneck community.”

Michelle Price, a spokeswoman for the Newport News Public Schools, declined comment Tuesday.

Parker began with Newport News Public Schools in 2008, according to the school division. She started as a teacher at Achievable Dream Academy in Newport News, then began teaching at McIntosh Elementary School in 2017. She became assistant principal at Newsome Park Elementary School in 2018, moving to Richneck in March 2021.

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