Boy, 6, Yells Profanities at Police After Shooting Teacher

Newly unsealed police bodycam footage reveals a 6-year-old boy, identified in court as J.T., shouting profanities and threatening officers as they took him into custody after he shot his first-grade teacher. The incident occurred on January 6, 2023, at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia.

In the video, obtained by the Virginian-Pilot and the Daily Press, the boy is heard telling officers, "Both y'all want a f--king piece of me, b---h?!" He also made threats of going to jail, stating, "I don’t care if I go to jail, b---h." The footage captures the immediate aftermath of the shooting, during which J.T. also directed obscenities at a reading specialist, Amy Kovac, who attempted to restrain him.

Body cameras recorded police discovering a 9 mm Taurus handgun on the classroom floor, approximately 15 to 20 feet from the boy. Officers discussed the need for "small handcuffs" for the shooter. Officer Brian Torrez, whose bodycam captured much of the exchange, warned other officers about "gun residue" on J.T.'s hands.

Kovac testified that she had alerted the assistant principal about prior threats related to the child. She recounted hearing a gunshot and finding the teacher, Abby Zwerner, injured. The boy told officers he had stolen the gun from his mother's purse. Zwerner was shot in the hand and chest.

The bodycam footage was presented as evidence during the trial of former Richneck assistant principal Ebony Parker, who faced eight felony child neglect charges related to the events leading up to the shooting. Those charges were dismissed. Zwerner was awarded $10 million in a civil suit against Parker.

J.T.'s mother, Deja Nicole Taylor, 29, was sentenced to prison for child neglect and for lying on a background check form when she purchased the firearm. She has since been released. The boy, now around 9 or 10 years old, is in the custody of his great-grandfather in Newport News.