Abby Zwerner
Courtesy Abby Zwerner (Facebook)
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The surprise decision by Newport News Circuit Court Judge Matthew Hoffman means that Abby Zwerner could get much more than just workers’ compensation for the serious injuries caused by January’s classroom shooting.

Lawyers for Newport News Public Schools had tried to block the lawsuit, arguing that Zwerner was eligible only for workers’ compensation. It provides up to nearly 10 years pay and lifetime medical care for injuries.

Zwerner’s attorneys countered that workers’ compensation doesn’t apply because a first-grade teacher would never anticipate getting shot: “It was not an actual risk of her job.”

Hoffman sided with Zwerner, concluding that her injuries “did not arise out of her employment” and therefore did not “fall within the exclusive provisions of workers’ compensation coverage.”

— Ben Finley in Virginia teacher shot by 6-year-old can proceed with $40 million lawsuit, judge rules

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72 COMMENTS

  1. They had information the child was armed…missed the gun in a search… .
    They will appeal the amount, but they failed miserably.

    • W­o­r­k­i­n­g o­n­l­i­n­e b­r­i­n­g­s i­n $­2­8­5 d­o­l­l­a­r­s a­n h­o­u­r f­o­r m­e. M­y b­e­s­t b­u­d­d­y s­h­o­w­s m­e h­o­w t­o d­o t­h­i­s a­n­d m­a­k­e­s $­2­9,0­0­0 a m­o­n­t­h d­o­i­n­g i­t, b­u­t I n­e­v­e­r r­e­a­l­i­z­e­d i­t w­a­s r­e­a­l, v­i­s­i­t yd03 t­h­e f­o­l­l­o­w­i­n­g l­i­n­k t­o h­a­v­e.

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  2. First thought a POS liberal judge was allowing her to sue a gun company from the title of the article.

    Glad this is not the case………

    .

  3. Zwerner’s attorneys countered that workers’ compensation doesn’t apply because a first-grade teacher would never anticipate getting shot: “It was not an actual risk of her job.”

    That makes no sense at all. There is no reason for anyone in any school to think they wont get shot while on the job!

    What? You think that a gun free school zone will protect you? People cant have guns there?

    • Prndll, I agree, but why stop at schools. You can be shot, or subject to any sort of mayhem, at any time and place. This planet is a dangerous place to live. Act accordingly.

      • Except she could carry a gun almost anywhere except at a school therefore the government that disarms her in the form of the school district owes her more than a normal employer toward ensuring her safety.

        • “Except she could carry a gun almost anywhere except at a school…”

          Just imagine the optics of a teacher claiming a legitimate DGU with an attacker 6 years old?

          I sure wouldn’t want to be that teacher, literally no one, *zero* would believe her.

          I’m convinced that kid will try to kill someone again, and likely succeed. He just learned he can get away with it… 🙁

  4. Even a child is known by his doings(Proverbs). Like those savage boy’s abusing the Jewish kid in Gaza. And documented. I hope she gets a lot of $…

    • But the Puppet told us the governing body there didn’t represent the general population. One man’s violent bigots are another man’s freedom fighters. Just ask Miner49er. Those kids are his future murdering and raping freedom fighters. Jews oppress Palestinians by existing.

      • Interesting to see you cheering on decades of violence by Israeli settlers displacing people from their land.

        “About 450,000 Israelis have settled in what is now Area C of the West Bank – the area under full Israeli military and political control – since the occupation of the Palestinian territories began in 1967, some motivated by religious or nationalistic reasons, and others by the cheaper cost of living.
        Their presence is viewed by most of the international community as a major obstacle to lasting peace, but until recently most focus has been on communities of houses rather than herder outposts.
        In September, the UN warned about rising settler violence targeting Palestinian herders and driving them from their homes and land.

        “A total of 1,105 people from 28 communities – about 12% of their population – have been displaced from their places of residence since 2022, citing settler violence and the prevention of access to grazing land by settlers as the primary reason,” the United Nations office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA) said.“

        https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/21/the-most-successful-land-grab-strategy-since-1967-as-settlers-push-bedouins-off-west-bank-territory

        • Beyond the matter of so-called “occupied territory,” I never did that. You’re making things up again to distract from the fact that you have no argument. What did I say, exactly? Why don’t you quote me, and we’ll go from there? Or you can run away again like you did from our past four conversations.

        • What kind of monster tries to push moral equivalence propaganda after Muslim terrorists burn babies alive in ovens while raping their mothers? Answer: Democrat monsters, like Miner. Evil doesn’t just exist overseas. People here have the exact same convictions as those terrorists. The only difference is they haven’t acted on it yet.

        • Shitdiggingidiot
          The actual answer is, the Israelis should have NEVER GIVEN BACK the lands they got when the >ARAB LEAGUE SAID TO ABANDON THE LAND< BECAUSE THEY WERE GOING TO INVADE AND WIPE OUT ISRAEL!!
          Ooops we want a 'do-over' doesn't count…

      • Minerdumbass (as usual) with the BS Prog “palestinian” fiction.

        Bone idle moslem arab squatters. In centuries in the Levant they did diddly squat (typical arabs) with the land. When the Jews returned to THEIR ancient tribal lands and made it productive the arabs want to steal it.

        Perhaps this would help the trolling dimwit: https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/11/05/michael-savage-shows-continuous-jewish-presence-israel-1900-bc/

        Anyone that proposed to send marxist Euro progs back to Eurp might have a reasonable point.

        • Miner has zero interest in learning anything. If you talk to him enough, you realize he doesn’t even understand the things he’s always pushing. He only knows he wants to push the latest left wing position, so he copies the work of others. He probably copied his way through high school.

        • “When the Jews returned to THEIR ancient tribal lands“

          Boom! And there it is, the ‘ol ‘THEIR’ ancient tribal lands story.

          The facts of history show that this wasn’t their ancient tribal lands, you might want to ask the Amalekites, Canaanites or Midianites about that bit of propaganda.

          The fact is, on the orders of their sky daddy, the Hebrews committed mass genocide on multiple populations, thousands of years before the holocaust.

          And they slaughtered the babies in cold blood, believing they were morally justified in doing so. Were they?

          That fact is proudly stated in the Holy Word of their God:

          Numbers 31:17-18 KJV
          17Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. 18But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.”

        • “Bone idle moslem arab squatters. In centuries in the Levant they did diddly squat (typical arabs) with the land“

          Yep, history rhymes.

          We’ve heard it before, ‘filthy savages are unworthy of all of this wonderful land, they should be eradicated from the face of the Earth!’ (and then we’ll take their shit).

          “Charles Dickens, the most popular British writer of the mid-1800s, captured the change in attitude in his 1853 essay “The Noble Savage.” Before this essay was written, Dickens attended an exhibition of the works of George Catlin. In the essay, Dickens reacts to the main theme of Catlin’s work—the nobility of the Indigenous people the artist encountered in North America.

          “To come to the point at once, I beg to say that I have not the least belief in the Noble Savage. I consider him a prodigious nuisance, and an enormous superstition. His calling rum fire-water, and me a pale face, wholly fail to reconcile me to him. I don’t care what he calls me. I call him a savage, and I call a savage a something highly desirable to be civilised off the face of the earth. . . . [H]e is a savage—cruel, false, thievish, murderous; addicted more or less to grease, entrails, and beastly customs; a wild animal with the questionable gift of boasting; a conceited, tiresome, blood- thirsty, monotonous humbug.”

      • Dude, you are being dishonest by claiming that I am cheering on the war crimes of the Palestinian terrorists.
        I’ve done no such thing, and I’ve continuously stated their violent kidnappings and murders are a crime against humanity and they should be prosecuted.

        I don’t think you’re so dumb that you can’t understand the gist of my statements.

        I am pointing out the roots of this violence only go back a few decades, you know, before the country of Israel existed in modern history.

        You can only push a population so far, before the extremist elements will take action.

        Put yourself in their position, you spent your childhood listening to grandpa’s stories of being pushed off their ancestral farm by these new ‘settlers’ who aren’t native to the Middle East but rather from all over the world.

        Now you’re 19, and you’ve had your fill of living in the Warsaw ghetto, I’m sorry, I mean Gaza refugee camp, and you are ready to act.

        But the occupiers hold all the military cards, with overwhelming conventional fire power. So all you have is unconventional warfare, you feel any action is justified.

        It’s not a new feeling… General Doolittle‘s B25 turret gunners strafed Japanese school children with their dual .50 BMGs, and felt morally justified in doing so. Were they?

        • “Dude, you are being dishonest by claiming that I am cheering on the war crimes of the Palestinian terrorists.”

          False. I have the receipts. You called them freedom fighters. You did that in context of excusing their behavior. You did that in the context of implying that the Israelis (Jews) deserved what they got. You did that in the context of pushing (now debunked) Hamas propaganda. You did that in the context of trying to prove a moral equivalence.

          Miner said:
          Right, the people flee because the Israelis attack in 1967 and now you call these lands ‘abandoned’.

          Yep, free for the taking…

          And that’s how you get a war.

          One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.

          https://dev.thetruthaboutguns.com/biden-hamas-terrorists-gotta-learn-how-to-shoot-straight/#comment-6848266

        • “You called them freedom fighters.“

          Amazing, you continue to mischaracterize my statement.

          I absolutely did not call them “freedom fighters”.

          No reasonable person would interpret me quoting ‘one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter’ as possibly labeling the Hamas terrorists “freedom fighters”.

          I was using the quote to make a statement about different perspectives, it is regrettable that it flew over your head.

          “You did that in context of excusing their behavior.”

          Again, intentional mischaracterization, I made no excuse for anyone’s behavior, merely listed the facts of history to explain their motivation.

          Perhaps you would understand the difference between an excuse and an explanation if you had served, it is an unsubtle distinction that most easily grasp.

          Again, were the Hebrews morally justified in putting the Amalekite, Canaanite and Midianite babies to the sword?

          Were the B25 turret gunners morally justified in machine-gunning the Japanese school children?

        • You said that in the context of discussing your reason for the recent Hamas attack (because you implied the Jews had it coming). Were you calling the Israelis freedom fighters? You think you can lie your way out of this, but anyone with at least a third grade education can read that page and know exactly what you meant.

          Normal people called them evil, vile terrorists. You called them freedom fighters.

        • I’ve seen this done elsewhere. Of course you copied another person’s work. No one here believes you have any original ideas. Just because you used plagiarized words does NOT mean you aren’t responsible for what you say. That phrase is used to excuse terrorism committed by the PLO, PA, or Hamas. It’s propaganda used to make them into sympathetic figures. Hey they’re freedom fighters, not terrorists. They’re basically like George Washington. Yes, that example actually exists. The low IQ sheep eat it up.

        • Dude. Ask the white colonizer miner49er how he got the only piece of land in the Americas not claimed by a native tribe. He even got an Uncle Tom-Tom site to declare that his land was not claimed so he obtained it legally.

          Just like his racist buddy American Taxpayer miner twists and contorts himself to claim he’s not hating on the jews while celebrating their murders.

        • “You said that in the context of discussing your reason for the recent Hamas attack (because you implied the Jews had it coming)“

          WTF? “discussing your reason for the recent Hamas attack“

          I didn’t make the attack so I don’t have a “reason for the attack”.

          The Palestinians have been unequivocal from the beginning, the reason for their attack was the Israel is occupation of Palestinian territory.

          Take peoples’ land at gunpoint, expect them to eventually raise objections, it’s just a fact of life.

          And discussing their motivation for the attacks does not somehow advocate for their position.

          Are you suggesting that if someone discusses the reasons the confederates went to war they are advocating for slavery?

          It seems your problem is that Hamas terrorists massacred babies, but you don’t seem to want to condemn baby killing when the Hebrews/Christians do it… Strange…

          Again, were the Hebrews morally justified in putting the Amalekite, Canaanite and Midianite babies to the sword?

          Were the B25 turret gunners morally justified in machine-gunning the Japanese school children?

        • Christians believe that murder is wrong. Normal non-religious people also believe that murder is wrong. Here you are digging your hole even deeper. You’re being disingenuous by pretending like you were merely discussing the attack from an uninvolved/objective point of view. Like I said, anyone with a third grade education can read that page (as well as many other pages) and know exactly what you meant. You now realize how bad it looks, so you’re trying to lie your way out of your own positions.

          Miner’s take on the recent Hamas terrorist attack:
          “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.”

        • “Christians believe that murder is wrong.“

          Non answer.

          I believe killing babies of any religion is wrong, the killer should be brought to the bar of Justice to answer for their crimes.

          So was it murder when the Hebrews put the Amalekite babies to the sword?

          Was it murder when Doolittle’s Raiders ‘accidentally’ strafed the schoolyard?

          “The aircraft actually did extensive damage relative to the limited number of planes in the raid. Although the targets were military and industrial, there was collateral damage, including accidental strafing of a school yard and a hospital.“

          https://www.history.navy.mil/about-us/leadership/director/directors-corner/h-grams/h-gram-004/h-004-4.html

          The fact that you refuse to condemn these baby killers means that for you, baby killing is not bad, as long as the right babies get killed…

        • “So was it murder when the Hebrews…”

          That is the non-answer. That’s you trying to change the subject, as always. We have already discussed your favorite Torah passages at length. Go back to that discussion if you like. It’s hilarious that you’re so desperate, your “winning” argument is a passage about tribal warfare from 3,500 years ago from sources that you routinely describe as fiction! Should we take every passage in the Torah or Bible as the truth, or should we pick and choose which ones to believe?

        • “That is the non-answer. That’s you trying to change the subject, as always“

          No, that’s exactly what we’re talking about, the slaughter of babies.
          You brought it up, claimed I was advocating for Hamas to slaughter babies.

          You are outraged when the Palestinians killed Israeli children, yet after I’ve asked three separate times, you refuse to condemn Hebrew/Christian killing of innocent babies.

          You are stuck, because it is your loving God who gave the order to slaughter the innocent babies.

          The answer is clear to most of us.

          “We have already discussed your favorite Torah passages“

          For the biblically illiterate, the passages I quoted above are from the King James Version of the Holy Bible, not the Torah.

        • “For the biblically illiterate, the passages I quoted above are from the King James Version of the Holy Bible, not the Torah.”

          The biblically illiterate must include you. The Torah includes the Book of Numbers. Maybe if you would be less haughty and more humble, you might actually learn something some day. You always bring up those few favorite verses of yours (which I took the time to previously discuss with you) because you think it’s a gotcha. As I’ve shown countless times, you have no idea what you’re talking about because you make no effort to learn anything. You plagiarize the works of others to prove points that you have no understanding of.

          Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that Christians do excuse murder (they don’t). Okay, fine. How does that excuse YOUR behavior, Miner? Anytime someone brings up an uncomfortable truth, you play whataboutism. What you’re trying to say is that you can’t be criticized for cheering on vile terrorists because some other people somewhere on the planet, at some point in time, excused some other type of atrocity. Did that argument really make sense in your head before you made it?

        • “The Torah includes the Book of Numbers“

          If you think there were no changes between the book of Numbers as written by Moses c. 1400BC and the KJV of 1611AD then there’s not much to discuss.
          King James VERSION should be your first clue.

          Numbers is interesting, it contains Jehovah’s explicit instructions on how to commit genocide and steal other peoples’ land, including specific details about baby killing.

        • I imagine the difference is a matter of language translation. Your favorite gotcha verses that you love to quote are from the five Books of Moses from the Torah as translated in the KJV.

        • I call Miner out on cheering on Hamas terrorists as his freedom fighters, so he demands that I condemn killings from 3,000 years ago referenced in a book that he describes as fiction. Wow.

  5. I don’t believe her $40M lawsuit should be allowed to continue.

    Reasoning:
    Does a hiker have a reasonable expectation of being struck by lightning?
    Certainly not as a regular occurrence on every excursion. However, they are aware of the small chance that it could someday occur.
    If the hiker chooses to go hiking anyway, they accept that risk.

    I teach high school. I don’t expect to get shot on the job, but know it’s about as likely as getting struck by lightning. I accept that very small risk as part of teaching in modern society. I mitigate it by knowing I have self defense training, tools, and mind-set.

    I thoroughly enjoy running drills at the range (especially when my LEO buddies can make it). However, I genuinely believe that the best way I can help deter school shootings is to have a genuine friendship with my students. I know their name, say Hi, and ask about their weekend all. the. time.

    The kid who thinks about doing something drastic to themselves or others, thinks twice when they are genuinely cared about. Authentic caring won’t stop every shooting, but I know it has stopped at least one at my school (not because of me).

    I wish the teacher in the lawsuit a speedy recovery, a forgiving heart, and the ability to move past this to get on with the next good things in her life… even if that doesn’t include $40M

    • Getting shot is still statistically unlikely but working in a gun free school zone increases the chances of it happening.

      • Well said.
        All of us, including Ms. Zwerner, are responsible for our own safety. Gun-free zones can make this more challenging, but do not remove or transfer the onus of the task.

        • How much time do schools spend teaching little kids about the value of all human life? Obviously it isn’t being taught, either directly or indirectly, by some parents. You might be able to get some Democrats to agree how important this is, if it was not for their love affair with abortion and eugenics.

        • “How much time do schools spend teaching little kids about the value of all human life?”

          Well, the schools try, but the Republicans are always throwing up roadblocks:

          “In February, Montana state Rep. Lola Sheldon-Galloway proposed a bill that would have banned social-emotional learning in schools, arguing that the lessons that emphasize regulation of emotions, healthy relationships, and empathy violated parents’ right to direct their own children’s upbringing.“

          https://www.edweek.org/leadership/social-emotional-learning-persists-despite-political-backlash/2023/07

        • Gee, I wonder why anyone would have reservations about trusting the commies in charge of the school system.

          From your article:
          “When we think of social-emotional learning as parents, we are not thinking our children are being pushed into gender ideologies, talks of oppression, or social justice,” Pimentel said at the Feb. 27 hearing. “Children should be taught skills safely without any agendas or ideologies.”

          None of that Marxist ideology junk is necessary in order to teach children the value of human life.

        • “None of that Marxist ideology junk is necessary in order to teach children the value of human life.“

          Could you be more specific about what particular Marxist ideology junk you believe is being taught to children?

          Now for the rest of the story, from this very same article:

          “However, by the end of the Feb. 27 education committee hearing on the bill, during which educators, lawmakers, and parents lined up to speak in opposition, Sheldon-Galloway, a Republican, had changed her mind.
          “The teachers have spoken loud and clear that they believe that this program is an excellent program, and it’s being used in schools in a good way,” Sheldon-Galloway said after listening to an hour of comments criticizing her bill. “Maybe I did not have a clear vision of that, as I was just trying to have a discussion on what people have been asking me for a long time—what is social-emotional learning? So, you have taught me well.”

        • Yes, I saw the “rest of the story” which I believe came before the part I listed in the referenced story. My comment literally said, “I wonder why anyone would have reservations about trusting the commies in charge of the school system.” Then I explained the concern in the following quote. No other explanation is necessary. Try learning reading comprehension so you can stop wasting time with useless comments.

    • “I don’t believe her $40M lawsuit should be allowed to continue.”

      Strongly disagree.

      I do think it needs to continue. It will send a loud, clear message to the school district that they must get their school security act together…

    • Sorry, wrong context.
      IN a high school you may be correct that there is a small but possible chance of being shot by a student.

      In a first grade class – hardly something anyone truly accepts as a possible workplace hazard.

      • How about a 4th grade class in a small Texas town?

        Shit can happen anywhere, anytime and the only ones affected by the GFZ is the one that would stop the shit quickly.

    • If a property is going to ban firearms, they’re responsible for all unlawful discharges of firearms on that property

    • Anti-fancy,

      I have no idea what her politics are/were, so I can only reply from my own POV, but . . . if you PROHIBIT me from the means for my own self-protection, then YOU are obligated to protect me. If you don’t do that, YOU are responsible for the outcome.

      Being a teacher, I’m sure she’s a reliable Dim vote/Leftist/fascist, but . . . she STILL had a right to defend herself and her students. Her employer denied her that right. Therefore, her employer is responsible for her safety (and, NO, babbling about “gun free zones” and “more gun control” don’t get the job done). There are, actually, ways that we can reduce ‘gun violence’ – enforce EXISTING laws, and allow citizens to have and carry the tools needed to protect themselves. Oh, and put multiple CONVICTED felons in prison for a long, LONG time.

      • Lamp,
        Thanks for the thoughtful reply.
        I agree. Those responsible for enacting GFZ’s should implement measures to ensure the safety of those in their GFZ.

        I also agree that traditional schools should not be GFZs.

        In this sad but specific situation, let’s say Ms. Zwerner was allowed to carry, had training, and was armed. Should she draw on a 1st grader? It’s hard to say since we weren’t there. But it’s also hard to imagine that the ONLY way to stop a 6 year-old is with lethal force.

        In this instance, I don’t blame the school district or their silly GFZ for the incident. This is why I don’t feel like the district should be liable to the teacher for $40M.

        That said, I like this site because many posters, like yourself, share illuminating perspectives, thoughts, and experiences which help my 42 year old brain grow, make me smile, and help me see the world more correctly.

        • “Should she draw on a 1st grader?”

          Just imagine how the news would report that.

          “Psycho teacher said she ‘felt threatened’ by a darling 6 year-old”.

          That’s the definition of a valid, but horror DGU. Do you think *anyone* could talk their way outta that one?

        • Weak spineless “educators”. Not new finding out that elementary principals are short on testosterone. Too much emoting and too little discipline is the main problem in government schools.

        • @jeffy

          That would happen even if the student were a 6’8″ nineteen year old that bench-pressed 250lbs, sold meth, and had a felony conviction that was shot while trying to rape your wife.

          It’s how the press works.

      • Vietnam vets will tell you a 6 year old with a grenade will kill you just as dead as a 16 year old with a grenade..

    • I’m a public school teacher as well. I can 110% guarantee you that if I’m shot on school property, by a student with a known propensity for violence, and admin has done absolutely little to nothing to remove that student, AND my school board has disarmed me, I will sue my employer even if it takes my entire life to collect.
      Now, if they finally allow me to carry this situation has .0001% chance of occurring. I’ve already been attacked by a random dude in my housing complex right after work. I had no firearm available because I can’t store one in my vehicle on school property. They’ve burned me once already. Fortunately I left buddy bruised and bloody and police said, “cool.” But could’ve been much worse.

      • Florida,
        Sorry to hear you can’t carry at work. Thanks for what you do for those kids.

        I can see where you’re coming from with all of those “Ifs” in the top half of your post. Do you suspect that was the situation for Ms. Zwerner?

    • anti-fancy You’re the ADULT in the room and you are there to instruct the young skulls full of mush. Standards and discipline. You are NOT there to be their “friend”.

      As a father in the home. Not the kid’s “buddy”. Grow a pair.

    • I believe the specifics of this case are important. The school system had been notified and missed the gun in a search or failed to search at all. If I recall correctly, they did not want to appear to be heavy-handed.

      “Police have said the shooting was intentional. Zwerner claims school officials knew the boy “had a history of random violence” at school and home, including when he “choked” his kindergarten teacher.”

      “Zwerner alleges that administrators ignored multiple warnings the boy had a gun that day and had routinely dismissed ongoing concerns about his troubling behavior.”

      I don’t believe your analogy is properly applied. The crux of the argument is the school administration had ample warning to avoid the incident and did not take effective measures to ensure the safety of the teachers and students.

      • “The crux of the argument is the school administration had ample warning to avoid the incident and did not take effective measures to ensure the safety of the teachers and students“

        Correct, the staff knew there was a reasonable belief that the child presented a clear and present danger to faculty and students, it was their responsibility to provide a safe workplace for the faculty and a safe environment for the other students but they failed to act to fulfill their duty of care.

  6. We haven’t heard the last from that kid.

    He’s gonna be doing hard time by time he’s 18, if not sooner… 🙁

      • Southern,

        Yeah, he’s “on their radar”.

        Perhaps the safest place to be, other than in the 10 ring of ANY target dacian the demented is shooting at.

  7. typically criminal conduct is not covered by work comp. It used to be that only criminal and civil courts were the only remedies. Plus work comp has a lesser amount that could be awarded. Not that the teacher is going to collect anything.

    • Oh, she’ll collect. The district will settle if they can’t win on motions (i.e. the workers comp) if the plaintiff’s case is anywhere near reality because they will not want to take it into a courtroom. Not after what the administrators did, or rather, didn’t do:

      “The lawsuit describes a series of warnings school employees gave administrators in the hours before the shooting, beginning with Zwerner, who went to Ebony Parker’s office between 11:15 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. and told her the boy “was in a violent mood,” had threatened to beat up a kindergartener and stared down a security officer in the lunchroom. The lawsuit alleges that Parker “had no response, refusing even to look up at (Zwerner) when she expressed her concerns.”

      At about 11:45 a.m., two students told Amy Kovac, a reading specialist, that the boy had a gun in his backpack. The boy denied it, but refused to give his backpack to Kovac, the lawsuit states. Zwerner told Kovac that she had seen the boy take something out of his backpack and put it into his sweatshirt pocket. Kovac then searched the backpack but did not find a weapon. Kovac told Ebony Parker that the boy had told students he had a gun. Parker responded that his “pockets were too small to hold a handgun and did nothing,” the lawsuit states.

      Another first-grade boy, who was crying, told a teacher the boy “had shown him a firearm he had in his pocket during recess.” That teacher contacted the office and told a music teacher, who answered the phone, what the boy told her.

      The music teacher said that when he informed Parker, she said the backpack had already been searched and “took no further action,” according to the lawsuit. A guidance counselor then asked Parker for permission to search the boy, but Parker forbade him, “and stated that John Doe’s mother would be arriving soon to pick him up.”

      About an hour later, the boy pulled the gun from his pocket, aimed it at Zwerner and shot her, the lawsuit states.”

  8. My, my, my, only 6 years old and already killin teachers.
    (^ Off of “The Ballad of Preacher Frye”. Except it was 16 and already killin preachers.)

  9. “I had no firearm available because I can’t store one in my vehicle on school property.”

    Universities in FL can’t get away with that anyhow. Your car is your castle. Don’t know about high schools.

  10. Hmm, I thought I posted a comment before, but it is gone now. Anyway, the issue here is that (although I know nothing of the details of the workers comp law in that state (but the school’s defense appears consistent) workers compensation is described as an exclusive remedy for employees injured in the course and scope of their employment, The particular risk involved in the injury suffered is not relevant to the determination of entitlement to workers’ compensation benefits, and apparently she is so entitled. So it should not matter that being shot by a six year old was not one of the typical risks associated with her employment; in fact, the question is never asked. The only question is whether the injured employee was acting within “the course and scope of employment”, which this employee most assuredly was. If the trial court were correct, then anyone who is shot/stabbed/beaten to death during their employment (except police officers) would be entitled to sue their employers for unlimited damages. That is not the law in the US, so I anticipate an appeal and quite probably a reversal.

  11. Teacher ‘shot by six year old says it al you need to know about American Gun Culture. I expect Mommy and Daddy had trained him on how to shoot them damned mand Liberal Commies Democrats, Socialist Lefties Because he had to know how to ,pint a gun and pull a trigger at the very least> Mommy and Daddy should be behind bloody bars I wonder if they bought him a ‘Great Big Orange Ephelump’ m called DONALD for his birthday. I simply cannot imagine that anybody could be so irresponsible, -not even a American Gun Nut, as to allow a SIX year old to get hold of a LOADED hand gun let alone show them how to use it!! And don’tbtry ntelling me that the parents had NOT bnshown the kid how to use it _he knew enough to pioint it an pull the trigger and from a SAFE position any handgun requires effort and INTENT to pull that trigger .

    • Al is trying to win the “Dumber than 49er” award.

      Got you moslems in the UK under control yet Al?

    • JerkingOffInTheHallway
      I was shooting by 6 years old.

      My kids started shooting at roughly the same age.

      None of us would have even DREAMED about taking a gun to school and shooting a teacher.

      What’s changed in the last 60 years? (40 years or so for my kids..)

      Answer that, and you’ve found the problem…

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