Abigail Zwerner

Abigail Zwerner is an American teacher, who was shot by one of her students, on January 7, 2023. Zwerner, 25 years old at the time, was regarded as a good teacher, teaching Grade One in a poorly managed school.

The student who shot her exhibited concerning behavior problems so severe his parents were supposed to attend class with him. Other students would later say the child had declared he wanted to kill Zwerner. For reasons that remain unexplained As of January 2023 no-one from his family was available to control his behavior on the day of the shooting.

School authorities received a tip the student was carrying a firearm in his backpack, and his backpack was searched, without success.

The firearm had been legally purchased by the student's mother. Virginia law required her to store the weapon safely, and she claimed it was secured by a trigger lock, and was stored on the top shelf of her closet. As of January 2023 no explanation has been provided as to how the student got access to the weapon.

Later on January 7, 2023, the student produced the weapon, and fired a single shot at Zwerner, perforating her hand and hitting her in the chest. In spite of her life-threatening injuries Zwerner successfully evacuated the rest of her students from the classroom.