Bodycam Footage of 6-Year-Old Shows Aftermath of Teacher Shooting

U.S.NewsPoliticsAI PoliticsTechFact CheckSportsGlobalIran WarRussia-UkraineMiddle EastChina And AsiaLive BlogBetter PlanetAll World NewsLifestyleFamily & ParentingEntertainmentTravelPetsAutomotiveRelationshipsScienceHealthPersonal FinanceBetter WorkplacesReaders ChoiceOpinionMy TurnAll OpinionRankingsHealthCorporate ResponsibilityFinanceProductsEducationWorkAll RankingsWatchThe 1600The Royal ReportUnconventionalFrom The PaddockNewsmakersSocialFacebookInstagramYouTubeRedditTikTokTwitter/XExtraNewslettersDare to DreamEventsEssaysPodcastsVantageInsightsMagazineCEO CircleAnnouncementsLeadershipDev Pragad A six-year-old schoolboy who shot and seriously injured his teacher can be seen swearing at an educator and threatening to fight police officers in newly released bodycam footage from the incident in January 2023. The video shows the first-grader, identified in court as J.T., shouting at the officers: "both y'all want a f****** piece of me, b***h." He also repeatedly shouts at an educator restraining him in a classroom: "f*** you, b***h." The footage was recorded on January 6, 2023, after J.T. shot his teacher, Abby Zwerner, at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia. The gun then jammed, and J.T. was restrained by another teacher. Warning: This footage contains audible obscenities. The footage also shows police locating a handgun in the classroom a few feet away from the boy. The video from Officer Brian Torrez was obtained by The Virginian-Pilot and The Daily Press, and the footage is now publicly available for the first time. A copy of the video posted on X had been viewed more than 27 million times as of Thursday morning. In an editors’ note, The Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot said they obtained the bodycam video following a legal ruling after it had been "improperly sealed" by the court. The publications said: "What we saw and heard was affecting, and led us to conclude the video has news value that supersedes its troubling content." The footage was previously shown during the trial of the former Richneck Elementary School assistant principal Ebony Parker on felony child neglect charges, though these were swiftly dismissed. Speaking to Newsweek, the Newport News Police Department said it had not "released any body‑worn camera video from this incident to any media outlet," adding: "Because the information requested, in mostly pertains to the criminal investigative files in connection with the incident, the Newport News Police Department has chosen to exercise the FOIA criminal investigation exemption that is applicable to the said record and is completely withholding the body-worn camera video footage from disclosure." Newsweek contacted Richneck Elementary School by email on Thursday outside regular office hours for comment. Bodycam Video The bodycam footage from Officer Torrez shows a number of police officers in a classroom where J.T. is being restrained by reading specialist Amy Kovac. The boy shouts, "both y'all want a f****** piece of me, b***h," to which Kovac replies, "stop" before telling officers: "He’s 6 years old. He has been on a modified schedule. His mother is to pick him up at 2:30. This is his first week without his mother coming to school with him." Officer Torrez says over the radio they are "inside room 11 with the suspect, gun is secured." In an apparent reference to the shot teacher, Kovac said: "I called 911 when I heard a gun…I came down the hall; she had blood." J.T. then shouted "f*** you b***h," after which an officer asks, "Do we have some small handcuffs?" Kovac goes on to say J.T. "does have the gun residue, it looks like," while in apparent reference to the gun J.T. said: "I stole that from my mom." The boy tells the officers, "I don’t care if you call backup. I don’t care if I go to jail, b***h." Kovac reprimands him, and J.T. hits her, knocking her glasses off her face. Legal Consequences Following the shooting, Deja Taylor, J.T.’s 29-year-old mother, was convicted of felony child neglect and lying about drug use when buying the gun used in the incident. Sentenced to nearly four years in prison, she was released in February 2026, according to the New York Post. In November 2025, Zwerner was awarded $10 million by a Virginia jury after bringing a case against Parker, the former Richneck Elementary School assistant principal. Zwerner’s legal team said Parker had been told J.T. had a gun by staff members before the shooting but failed to act. Parker also faced a criminal trial on eight counts of felony child neglect. The indictments accused her of showing a reckless disregard for the lives of Richneck Elementary School students on the day of the shooting. However, the case collapsed after all charges were dismissed. What Happened to Abby Zwerner? According to court filings from her legal team, the bullet that hit Zwerner passed through her left hand before entering her ribs close to her heart, causing one lung to collapse. Zwerner had a chest tube inserted into the collapsed lung and still has the bullet in her body, as it couldn’t be safely removed, meaning she can’t have MRI scans in the future. Dr. Romney Anderson, an orthopedic trauma surgeon, said Zwerner had a “devastating hand injury” and she hasn’t regained full use of her left hand. Speaking to NBC News in 2023 about her recovery, Zwerner said: "Some days are not-so-good days, where I can't get up out of bed. Some days are better than others, where I'm able to get out of bed and make it to my appointments… "But, you know, for going through what I've gone through, I try to stay positive. You know, try to have a positive outlook on what's happened and where my future's heading." Following the shooting, Zwerner left teaching and became a licensed cosmetologist. Deja Taylor Interview In a 2023 interview with ABC News, J.T.'s mother said her son had ADHD and was "off the wall" and "doesn’t sit still ever." Deja Taylor said her son "really liked" the teacher he shot but added: "I will say that week he did come home and he was talking a lot about how he felt like he was being ignored so he would come home ‘mom I don’t think she was listening to me, I didn’t like that.’" She also said J.T. had been suspended earlier that week after knocking Zwerner’s phone out of her hand when asked to sit down, which Taylor insisted was an accident. J.T. was taken into the custody of his great-grandfather living in Newport News after the shooting. US School Shootings According to data compiled by Education Week, since 2018 the United States has recorded 265 school shootings in which one or more people were killed or injured. Of these, 39 took place in 2023, 40 in 2024, 18 in 2025 and 24 up to October 2026. Overall, in 2023, the year in which Zwerner was shot, Education Week data shows 21 people were killed and 43 injured in U.S. school shootings. In April, footage went viral online showing Oklahoma High School Principal Kirk Moore being crowned by students at prom after he tackled a former student who entered the school with a gun, during which he received a gunshot wound to the leg. Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Ben Kelly, Matthew Robinson and Tony Phillips.By James BickertonNews Reporter

0ShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberSee more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.A six-year-old schoolboy who shot and seriously injured his teacher can be seen swearing at an educator and threatening to fight police officers in newly released bodycam footage from the incident in January 2023.

The video shows the first-grader, identified in court as J.T., shouting at the officers: “both y’all want a f****** piece of me, b***h.” He also repeatedly shouts at an educator restraining him in a classroom: “f*** you, b***h.”

The footage was recorded on January 6, 2023, after J.T. shot his teacher, Abby Zwerner, at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia. The gun then jammed, and J.T. was restrained by another teacher.

Warning: This footage contains audible obscenities.

The footage also shows police locating a handgun in the classroom a few feet away from the boy.

The video from Officer Brian Torrez was obtained by The Virginian-Pilot and The Daily Press, and the footage is now publicly available for the first time. A copy of the video posted on X had been viewed more than 27 million times as of Thursday morning.

In an editors’ note, The Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot said they obtained the bodycam video following a legal ruling after it had been “improperly sealed” by the court.

The publications said: “What we saw and heard was affecting, and led us to conclude the video has news value that supersedes its troubling content.”

The footage was previously shown during the trial of the former Richneck Elementary School assistant principal Ebony Parker on felony child neglect charges, though these were swiftly dismissed.

Speaking to Newsweek, the Newport News Police Department said it had not “released any body‑worn camera video from this incident to any media outlet,” adding: “Because the information requested, in mostly pertains to the criminal investigative files in connection with the incident, the Newport News Police Department has chosen to exercise the FOIA criminal investigation exemption that is applicable to the said record and is completely withholding the body-worn camera video footage from disclosure.”

Newsweek contacted Richneck Elementary School by email on Thursday outside regular office hours for comment.

The bodycam footage from Officer Torrez shows a number of police officers in a classroom where J.T. is being restrained by reading specialist Amy Kovac.

The boy shouts, “both y’all want a f****** piece of me, b***h,” to which Kovac replies, “stop” before telling officers: “He’s 6 years old. He has been on a modified schedule. His mother is to pick him up at 2:30. This is his first week without his mother coming to school with him.”

Officer Torrez says over the radio they are “inside room 11 with the suspect, gun is secured.”

In an apparent reference to the shot teacher, Kovac said: “I called 911 when I heard a gun…I came down the hall; she had blood.”

J.T. then shouted “f*** you b***h,” after which an officer asks, “Do we have some small handcuffs?”

Kovac goes on to say J.T. “does have the gun residue, it looks like,” while in apparent reference to the gun J.T. said: “I stole that from my mom.”

The boy tells the officers, “I don’t care if you call backup. I don’t care if I go to jail, b***h.”

Kovac reprimands him, and J.T. hits her, knocking her glasses off her face.

Following the shooting, Deja Taylor, J.T.’s 29-year-old mother, was convicted of felony child neglect and lying about drug use when buying the gun used in the incident. Sentenced to nearly four years in prison, she was released in February 2026, according to the New York Post.

In November 2025, Zwerner was awarded $10 million by a Virginia jury after bringing a case against Parker, the former Richneck Elementary School assistant principal.

Zwerner’s legal team said Parker had been told J.T. had a gun by staff members before the shooting but failed to act.

Parker also faced a criminal trial on eight counts of felony child neglect. The indictments accused her of showing a reckless disregard for the lives of Richneck Elementary School students on the day of the shooting. However, the case collapsed after all charges were dismissed.

According to court filings from her legal team, the bullet that hit Zwerner passed through her left hand before entering her ribs close to her heart, causing one lung to collapse.

Zwerner had a chest tube inserted into the collapsed lung and still has the bullet in her body, as it couldn’t be safely removed, meaning she can’t have MRI scans in the future.

Dr. Romney Anderson, an orthopedic trauma surgeon, said Zwerner had a “devastating hand injury” and she hasn’t regained full use of her left hand.

Speaking to NBC News in 2023 about her recovery, Zwerner said: “Some days are not-so-good days, where I can’t get up out of bed. Some days are better than others, where I’m able to get out of bed and make it to my appointments…

“But, you know, for going through what I’ve gone through, I try to stay positive. You know, try to have a positive outlook on what’s happened and where my future’s heading.”

Following the shooting, Zwerner left teaching and became a licensed cosmetologist.

In a 2023 interview with ABC News, J.T.’s mother said her son had ADHD and was “off the wall” and “doesn’t sit still ever.”

Deja Taylor said her son “really liked” the teacher he shot but added: “I will say that week he did come home and he was talking a lot about how he felt like he was being ignored so he would come home ‘mom I don’t think she was listening to me, I didn’t like that.’”

She also said J.T. had been suspended earlier that week after knocking Zwerner’s phone out of her hand when asked to sit down, which Taylor insisted was an accident.

J.T. was taken into the custody of his great-grandfather living in Newport News after the shooting.

According to data compiled by Education Week, since 2018 the United States has recorded 265 school shootings in which one or more people were killed or injured.

Of these, 39 took place in 2023, 40 in 2024, 18 in 2025 and 24 up to October 2026. Overall, in 2023, the year in which Zwerner was shot, Education Week data shows 21 people were killed and 43 injured in U.S. school shootings.

In April, footage went viral online showing Oklahoma High School Principal Kirk Moore being crowned by students at prom after he tackled a former student who entered the school with a gun, during which he received a gunshot wound to the leg.

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Ben Kelly, Matthew Robinson and Tony Phillips.