Teacher shot by 6-year-old texted a dire warning to a loved one before she was wounded, source says

The Virginia teacher who was shot by her 6-year-old student texted a loved one before she was wounded that the boy was armed and that school officials were failing to act, according to a source close to the situation.

The source on Tuesday said Zwerner sent the text about an hour before she was shot on Jan. 6, saying that the student said he had a gun in his backpack and administrators at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News weren’t helping.

The text “showed her frustration,” said the source, who only disclosed details of the single text message to NBC News and not the messages that came before or after it. “She was frustrated because she was trying to get help with this child, for this child, and then when she needed help, no one was coming.”

When asked about Zwerner’s text message and previous safety concerns from teachers and staff, Newport News Public Schools spokesperson Michelle Price said, “Anything that has been reported to our school leadership team in regards to concerns at Richneck from teachers and staff members is part of the investigation. It’s being thoroughly investigated.”

A law firm representing the Zwerner family said it could not confirm the text and did not respond to requests for comment from the family. A lawyer for the family is set to hold a news conference Wednesday morning.

The news of the direct warning from Zwerner comes after the school system’s superintendent, George Parker III, said at a virtual town hall this month that the boy had come to school late and that his book bag was inspected upon his arrival at the office to sign in, according to parents who watched the meeting.

“At least one administrator was notified of a possible weapon,” Parker said in a video reviewed by NBC News.

A Newport News police spokeswoman said authorities also determined through their investigation that “a school employee was notified of a possible firearm at Richneck Elementary before the shooting occurred,” adding, “The Newport News Police Department was not notified of this information prior to the incident.”

Further details weren’t made available about who conducted the search, why the gun wasn’t found and whether the child’s clothing was physically examined.

Zwerner, 25, was hailed as a hero by police who said after she was intentionally shot and seriously wounded in her hand and chest, she still managed to safely escort about 20 students out of her first-grade class at Richneck. She was released from the hospital last week.

“I believe she did save lives, because I don’t know what else might have happened if those kids would have stayed in that room,” Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew said during a news conference earlier this month.

No charges connected to the case have been publicly announced.

Last week, The Washington Post reported that administrators at the school had downplayed earlier warnings about the student despite repeated requests for help. School employees told Parker that Zwerner had asked for help with the student “several times” throughout the school year, according to messages obtained by the Post and not independently verified by NBC News. The messages do not indicate who Zwerner sought help from.

Another message from a teacher obtained by the Post details disturbing behavior from the student that preceded the shooting, though the dates of the alleged behavior are unclear.

The principal and vice principal of Richneck did not respond to requests for comment from the Post on the teacher’s account. School district spokeswoman Michelle Price told the Post that she could not “share any information in a child’s educational record” and also cited the ongoing police investigation and internal inquiry by the school.

Drew has said that the child’s mother legally bought the 9 mm Taurus firearm used in the shooting and that the boy took the gun from his home. Whether it was properly secured is a key element in the investigation, he has said.

The family of the boy who shot Zwerner said in a statement last week that the gun was “secured” when the child took it from their home but didn’t go into further detail.

“Our family has always been committed to responsible gun ownership and keeping firearms out of the reach of children. The firearm our son accessed was secured,” said the statement, released by the family’s attorney James Ellenson.

The statement also said the boy “suffers from an acute disability and was under a care plan at the school that included his mother or father attending school with him and accompanying him to class every day. Additionally, our son has benefitted from an extensive community of care that also includes his grandparents working alongside us and other caregivers to ensure his needs and accommodations are met. The week of the shooting was the first week when we were not in class with him. We will regret our absence on this day for the rest of our lives.”

Since the shooting, the statement added, the boy has been in a hospital receiving the “treatment he needs.”

Ellenson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday evening about Zwerner’s text message before the shooting.

Richneck has been closed since the shooting. It is set to reopen on Monday and will be outfitted with a metal detector, school officials have said.

The district has secured funding for 90 state-of-the-art metal detectors that will be placed at all district schools, officials said.

The school district has had three instances of gun violence in 17 months.

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