Disturbing new police bodycam footage reveals the shocking behavior of a 6-year-old boy who shot his first-grade teacher inside a Virginia elementary school, then cursed at responding officers, challenged them to fight and admitted taking the gun from his mother.
The newly released video captures the chaotic moments following the January 6, 2023, shooting at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, where teacher Abby Zwerner was nearly killed by one of her own students.
Zwerner was shot through her left hand and chest while teaching her first-grade class. The bullet narrowly missed her heart and remains lodged in her body.
Now, more than three years later, the footage is offering the public a disturbing look at what happened inside the classroom immediately after the gunfire.
In the recording, police officers rush into the school and discover reading specialist Amy Kovac physically holding the young boy while attempting to keep him under control.
But instead of cooperating with the officers, the child begins shouting profanities and making threatening remarks.
“Both y’all want a f****** piece of me,” the boy yells, apparently challenging the adults confronting him.
As officers attempt to assess the situation, Kovac asks the child whether he was injured when he fired the gun.
The boy responds that he was not hurt.
Moments later, he continues directing profanity at Kovac and the officers, even after being told his language is inappropriate.
WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW:
At another point, the first-grader declares that he does not care whether officers call for backup or take him to jail.
The nearly three-minute video also captures a startling admission about where the weapon came from.
When an officer asks about the gun, the child acknowledges taking it from his mother.
“My mom had that. I stole that from my mom,” he says.
Investigators later determined that the handgun belonged to his mother, Deja Taylor, who had legally purchased the firearm in July 2022.
Authorities said the child retrieved the unsecured 9mm handgun from his mother’s purse, brought it to school in his backpack and used it to shoot Zwerner during an afternoon lesson.
The shooting stunned the nation because of the child’s exceptionally young age and the serious questions it raised about access to firearms, parental responsibility and school safety.
Zwerner, who was 25 at the time, was sitting at a reading table when the boy pulled out the weapon and fired.
She raised her hand as the gun discharged, causing the bullet to pass through her hand before entering her chest.
Despite her life-threatening injuries, Zwerner managed to evacuate her students from the classroom before seeking medical assistance.
The teacher was rushed to a hospital, where she spent nearly two weeks receiving treatment.
Her recovery would prove far more difficult than anyone initially imagined.
Zwerner underwent six surgeries and extensive rehabilitation to restore movement and function in her injured hand. She has said that she continues to experience significant physical limitations, emotional distress and psychological trauma.
During earlier court proceedings, she described how the shooting changed nearly every aspect of her life.
“Not only do I bear physical scars from the shooting that will remain with me forever, but I also contend daily with deep, psychological scars,” Zwerner told the court.
The consequences of the attack extended beyond the classroom.
Investigators discovered that school employees had repeatedly expressed concerns about the boy’s behavior on the day of the shooting.
Several staff members reportedly warned administrators that the first-grader might have a firearm.
A search of his backpack failed to uncover the weapon, and the child remained at school.
According to testimony presented during subsequent legal proceedings, Zwerner also noticed concerning behavior during recess.
The student had been wearing an oversized jacket and keeping his hands in his pockets, prompting her to communicate her concerns to another school employee.
Despite those warning signs, the shooting occurred later that afternoon.
The revelations eventually led to legal action against former Richneck Elementary School Assistant Principal Ebony Parker, who was accused of failing to respond appropriately to reports that the student might be armed.
Parker faced eight felony child neglect charges, one for each unfired bullet in the handgun.
However, in May 2026, Newport News Circuit Court Judge Rebecca Robinson dismissed all eight criminal charges during Parker’s trial.
“The court is of the legal opinion that this is not a crime,” Robinson said in explaining her ruling.
The decision meant prosecutors could not proceed with their criminal case against the former administrator.
But Parker had already faced a separate civil lawsuit filed by Zwerner.
In November 2025, a jury found Parker grossly negligent and awarded the injured teacher $10 million in damages.
The civil verdict and dismissal of the criminal charges represented different legal proceedings with different standards of proof. The criminal dismissal did not overturn the jury’s finding in the civil case.
Meanwhile, the boy’s mother faced serious consequences of her own.
Taylor pleaded guilty to federal firearm offenses involving her marijuana use and false statements made during the purchase of the handgun.
In November 2023, a federal judge sentenced her to 21 months in prison.
She also pleaded guilty to felony child neglect in Virginia and received a two-year state prison sentence in December 2023.
The combined punishment amounted to nearly four years of incarceration.
During the legal proceedings, Taylor apologized to Zwerner and acknowledged her responsibility for failing to properly secure the weapon.
The child himself was never criminally prosecuted. Newport News Commonwealth’s Attorney Howard Gwynn determined that the boy was too young for criminal charges under Virginia law.
The boy, whose identity has been withheld because he is a minor, has since been placed in the care of his great-grandfather, Calvin Taylor.
His family has previously discussed the challenges of providing him with the stability, supervision and support needed following the shooting.
The newly released bodycam footage had previously been introduced as evidence during legal proceedings but remained unavailable to the public until it was unsealed.
Its release followed efforts by news organizations, including The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press, to obtain access to the recording.
The footage has renewed public attention on one of the most troubling school shootings in recent American history.
Beyond the child’s profane statements and defiant behavior, the video underscores the extraordinary circumstances confronting police officers and educators that afternoon.
Responding officers were dealing with a seriously wounded teacher, a loaded firearm inside an elementary school and a first-grader who had just committed an act of violence.
The recording also highlights the difficult questions surrounding how a child so young could obtain a handgun, bring it into a classroom and shoot an educator despite multiple reported warnings.
For Zwerner, those questions remain deeply personal.
Although she survived, the shooting permanently altered her health, career and sense of security.
And while the criminal cases involving the child’s mother and former school administrator have concluded, the release of the footage serves as another painful reminder of the tragedy that unfolded inside a first-grade classroom.
