BS BULLETIN:
- Newly released police bodycam footage captures a 6-year-old Virginia boy cursing, threatening officers and showing little apparent remorse moments after shooting his first-grade teacher.
- The child admitted stealing the 9mm handgun from his mother’s purse and declared he didn’t care if he went to jail.
- The shooting happened in January 2023, but the newly public video reveals disturbing details about the child’s behavior and warnings school officials received before the attack.
He was just six years old. He had already shot his teacher in the chest. And when police arrived, he was ready to fight them, too.
Disturbing newly released bodycam footage shows the extraordinary scene inside Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, moments after first-grade teacher Abby Zwerner was shot by one of her own students on January 6, 2023.
🚨😮 UNREAL: Newly released bodycam footage shows the defiant Black 6-year-old who SH*T his teacher at Richneck Elementary screaming profanities at police.
The boy proudly admits sh*oting Abby Zwerner and says he stole his mom’s loaded 9mm because he https://t.co/bosOMPBlYA
— Pastor Bob Joyce (@PastorBobJzv0o) October 7, 2026
The boy, identified in court records only as J.T., was being restrained by reading specialist Amy Kovac when officers entered the classroom.
Instead of appearing frightened or apologetic, the child unleashed a stream of profanity and threats.
“Both y’all want a f–king piece of me, b–ch?!” he shouted at responding officers.
Kovac, who had rushed into the classroom after hearing the gunshot, repeatedly tried to calm him down.
“F–k you, b–ch,” the boy snapped at her.
He also flashed his middle finger.
The nearly three-minute recording, captured by Officer Brian Torrez and obtained by The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press, was previously shown in court but only recently made public.
According to court documents, the child climbed onto his mother’s dresser that morning, removed a 9mm Taurus handgun from her purse and carried it to school in his backpack.
During an afternoon reading lesson, he pulled the weapon from his jacket pocket and fired at Zwerner from approximately 10 feet away.
The bullet passed through her hand and lodged in her chest.
Sixteen other students were in the classroom.
Despite her injuries, Zwerner managed to get her students to safety before seeking medical attention.
When police recovered the gun, the boy readily acknowledged where it came from.
“My mom had that. I stole that from my mom,” he told officers.
Then he challenged them again.
“If you want a piece of me, come get it on, b–ch. I don’t care if you call backup. I don’t care if I go to jail, b–ch.”
At one point, an officer asked whether anyone had small handcuffs.
Kovac continued trying to reason with the child, reminding him that his language was inappropriate.
She later testified that he punched her in the face, knocking off her glasses.
Perhaps the most troubling revelation in the footage is what Kovac told officers about the child’s history.
“He has been on a modified schedule,” she explained. “His mother is to pick him up at 2:30. This is his first week without his mother coming to school with him.”
She also told police she had warned an assistant principal earlier that day about a threat involving the boy.
Those warnings became central to the legal fallout from the shooting.
Former assistant principal Ebony Parker faced eight felony child neglect charges stemming from allegations that school administrators failed to respond adequately to reports that the child had a gun.
The charges were ultimately dismissed during her May 2026 trial.
Zwerner, who suffered serious physical injuries, was awarded $10 million in a civil lawsuit against Parker in November 2025.
The boy’s mother, Deja Nicole Taylor, served time in state and federal prison following convictions connected to child neglect and the firearm. She was released in February 2026.
The child, now approximately 9 or 10 years old, is reportedly living with his great-grandfather.
Because of his age, he was not criminally prosecuted for the shooting.
MY QUICK TAKE
I’ve heard some terrible stories about what teachers face in American classrooms, but this one is almost beyond comprehension.
A six-year-old shoots his teacher. Then he curses out the adults trying to help, threatens the police and announces that he doesn’t care about going to jail.
Six years old.
At that age, most children are still learning to tie their shoes.
What strikes me isn’t simply the profanity. Children repeat language they hear. It’s the combination of a deadly weapon, threatening behavior and the apparent absence of any understanding of what had just happened.
And here’s the question that ought to haunt every school administrator in America: How many warnings does it take before somebody acts?
This child was already on a modified schedule. His mother had reportedly been required to accompany him to school. Staff had raised concerns.
Yet somehow, a loaded handgun made it into a first-grade classroom.
We spend an enormous amount of time debating school safety in Washington. But no security slogan or bureaucratic policy can substitute for adults recognizing serious danger and taking responsibility.
Abby Zwerner nearly lost her life.
And the most chilling part of this story isn’t what the child said to police. It’s what the adults apparently knew before he ever pulled the trigger.