The first-grade teacher who was allegedly shot by a six-year-old student in January is still recovering from her life-threatening injuries, telling NBC’s Savannah Guthrie she tries to stay positive in spite of everything.
Abigail Zwerner, 25, was teaching her class on Jan. 6 at Richneck Elementary School in Virginia when one of her students allegedly pulled out a firearm and fired a shot, striking Zwerner in the hand and upper chest. Since that time, Zwerner has undergone multiple surgeries for her injuries and continues to undergo occupational therapy to regain functionality in her left hand, NBC News reported. (RELATED: 6-Year-Old In Custody After Allegedly Shooting Teacher)
EXCLUSIVE: Abigail Zwerner, the first-grade teacher who was shot by one of her students, is speaking for the first time to TODAY’s @SavannahGuthrie about what happened that day, and how she’s doing now.
Tune into The Today Show Tuesday morning at 7:30amET for the full interview. pic.twitter.com/U4DRLw5LPs
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) March 20, 2023
“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,” Zwerner told Guthrie.
“Physical therapy is not only physically exhausting but mentally exhausting as well. I’m supposed to be moving them once every hour, throughout the hour — just manipulating them to get that blood flowing and to get that movement back into the hand,” Zwerner said of her fingers.
In addition to her hand, Zwerner is still grappling with pain in her side where a chest tube was placed after her lung collapsed, the outlet reported.
Though she was critically injured, Zwerner corralled the rest of her students to safety in the aftermath of the shooting. This act earned her praise from Newport News Police; however, her lawyer, Diane Toscano, contends she should never have been injured at all, the outlet reported.
“I can tell you there were failures on multiple levels in this case, and there were adults that were in positions of authority that could have prevented this tragedy from happening and did not,” Toscano stated, according to the outlet.
Zwerner plans to file a lawsuit against the school district just weeks after the shooting after her concerns about the child in question reportedly went unheeded by the administration.
“On that day, over the course of a few hours, three different times — three times — school administration was warned by concerned teachers and employees that the boy had a gun on him at the school and was threatening people. But the administration could not be bothered,” Toscano said at a January press conference.
The child accused of shooting Zwerner reportedly struggles with behavioral issues that required him to attend school with a parent, NBC reported. On the week of the shooting, however, no parent or guardian was present — something the family said they will always regret. Newport News Commonwealth’s Attorney Howard Gwynn hasn’t determined whether any adults will face charges in the shooting of Zwerner but stated March 8 the child, citing his young age, would not face charges.
Though Zwerner still struggles with everyday tasks she tries to stay optimistic about the situation. “For going through what I’ve gone through, I try to stay positive,” Zwerner told NBC News. “You know, try to have a positive outlook on what’s happened and where my future’s heading,” she added.