The superintendent of a Virginia school in the US was fired on Wednesday, weeks after a six-year-old boy shot and wounded his teacher in the classroom. The school board voted 5-1 to oust George Parker, shortly after the victim teacher announced plans to sue the district. 25-year-old teacher Abigail Zwerner was shot in the chest earlier this month by the six-year-old pupil, even after having warned the school administration “three times” before the incident happened. Abigail Zwerner’s lawyer said that the incident was completely avoidable.
Diane Toscano, the teacher’s lawyer, revealed that “the administration could not be bothered” about the concerns that Abigail Zwerner raised. “On that day, over the course of a few hours, three different times — three times — school administration was warned by concerned teachers and employees that the boy had a gun on him at school and was threatening people,” said the attorney.
Zwerner supported her claims by showing text messages exchanged between her and the school administration. Toscano said that Zwerner requested the school authorities to search the boy and his backpack for the weapon but her calls were ignored. Zwerner also informed an official about the boy putting the gun in his pockets, but the official responded by saying, “Well, he has little pockets.”
The parents of the boy claim he suffers from an acute disability and rarely attends school without one of them being present. On January 6, the day of the shooting, the boy was present alone. As per a report by CNN, the boy had brought his mother’s gun to the school.
George Parker, the superintendent of the school, was fired as frustrated parents complained in a meeting on January 17 that their kids were facing fear and hysteria since the January 6 gun violence. Earlier, the school’s assistant principal, Dr Ebony Parker, had tendered his resignation following the shooting controversy.