Bodycam Footage of 6-Year-Old Who Shot Teacher Goes Viral

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 had obtained the bodycam video following a legal ruling after it had been “improperly sealed” by the court. The publications added: “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. Newsweek contacted the Newport News Police Department and Richneck Elementary School for comment on Thursday via email outside of regular office hours. 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 six 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 continues being abusive telling the officers “I don’t care if you call backup. I don’t care if I go to jail, b***h.” Kovac reprimands him, after which J.T. hits her knocking the glasses off her face. Legal Consequences Following the shooting Deja Nicole 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 shooting. Sentenced to nearly four years in prison according to The New York Post she was released in February 2026. 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. She initially sought $40 million. Following the incident Zwerner left teaching and became a licensed cosmetologist. Parker initially faced a criminal trial on eight counts of felony child neglect. The indictments accused Parker 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. J.T. was taken into the custody of his great-grandfather living in Newport News. Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Matthew Robinson and Tony Phillips.By James BickertonUS News 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 had obtained the bodycam video following a legal ruling after it had been “improperly sealed” by the court.

The publications added: “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.

Newsweek contacted the Newport News Police Department and Richneck Elementary School for comment on Thursday via email outside of regular office hours.

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 six 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 continues being abusive telling the officers “I don’t care if you call backup. I don’t care if I go to jail, b***h.”

Kovac reprimands him, after which J.T. hits her knocking the glasses off her face.

Following the shooting Deja Nicole 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 shooting. Sentenced to nearly four years in prison according to The New York Post she was released in February 2026.

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. She initially sought $40 million.

Following the incident Zwerner left teaching and became a licensed cosmetologist.

Parker initially faced a criminal trial on eight counts of felony child neglect. The indictments accused Parker 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.

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

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