Tag Archives: shooting

Three Warnings? You’re Out of a Job.

Posted on January 26, 2023 by | 85 comments

by Kerry Dougherty

Unbelievable. If what Abby Zwerner’s lawyer said yesterday in her press conference is true, it wasn’t enough to sack only the superintendent of Newport News Public Schools over the near-fatal shooting of a first-grade teacher by an armed 6-year-old. A host of other indifferent school administrators need to join him in the unemployment ranks.

Oh, and they all need to buckle up for legal proceedings that could blow the roof off that dysfunctional school system.

Here, watch for yourself. I’ll wait:

Diane Toscano is not an ambulance-chasing lawyer. She’s a well-respected, experienced Virginia Beach attorney who once worked as a prosecutor. She just notified Newport News of her intention to sue on behalf of the wounded teacher, which may be part of the reason the school board decided yesterday to fire George Parker, the city’s school superintendent.

Toscano knows the law and seems confident that the chronic apathy that infected administrators at Richneck Elementary School will be enough to take this case out of the Workman’s Compensation meager coverage and open the schools to full liability for Zwerner’s injuries. Continue reading →

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Posted in Education (K-12)

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6-Year-Old Shooter

Posted on January 9, 2023 by | 75 comments

by Kerry Dougherty

We’re not in the business of making predictions in this space. But with the police releasing precious few details about the near-fatal shooting of a Newport News first-grade school teacher on Friday, BY A SIX-YEAR-OLD BOY, we have a few guesses about what we will learn eventually:

This is complete speculation, but chances that this first-grade boy is the product of a stable two-parent family are slim.

Chances are he has witnessed violence, either through video games or in person, that have sadly turned him into a menace to society.

Given the tender age of the alleged perpetrator, cops are being stingy with details. Understandable. Yet the entire student body of 550 at Richneck Elementary School was terrified Friday afternoon when shots rang out. They, and the rest of the community, deserve some answers.

For instance: Where is the boy now?

Six-year-olds reportedly cannot be charged with crimes in Virginia, but they can be removed from their homes by authorities. Hopefully that happened immediately.

The question remains: What sort of home produces a 6-year-old child capable of taking a loaded gun to school and shooting his teacher?

At the very least his parent/parents/guardian should be charged with child endangerment for giving him access to a loaded firearm. And let’s hope prosecutors spent every waking minute since the shooting exploring ways to charge the adults with attempted murder and a host of gun charges. Continue reading →

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Posted in Education (K-12)

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