October 9, 2026, 6:13 p.m. ET
Newly released police body camera footage shows a 6-year-old boy cursing at officers moments after shooting and seriously injuring his teacher at a Virginia elementary school in 2023.
The boy, seen in his first grade classroom, is heard saying “I don’t care if you call for backup. I don’t care if I go to jail.”
The shooting occurred on January 6, 2023. The boy’s teacher, Abby Zwerner, and 16 students had fled the classroom after the shooting at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia. The boy, identified as JT in court records, according to the Virginian Pilot, was restrained by reading specialist Amy Kovac.
Zwerner was hit, with the bullet passing through her hand and lodging in her chest. She survived and later filed a civil suit against the school’s vice principal, Ebony Parker. The lawsuit alleged Parker didn’t do enough after hearing multiple reports that the child owned a gun. Zwerner won a $10 million jury verdict in November.
The video was also used as evidence during Parker’s criminal trial in May, where she faced eight counts of child neglect. The judge sealed the video after it was introduced and after receiving “several media requests” about the tape. Charges against Parker were dismissed, according to a previous report from USA TODAY.
The Virginian Pilot and Daily Press filed a motion to unseal the body camera footage in June. A judge agreed to release the images on the condition that the boy’s face remained blurred.
The Pilot released the video on October 6.
“What we saw and heard was touching and led us to conclude that the video has news value that goes beyond its disturbing content,” the newspaper said in an editorial note. “Above all, this tells us something about the life of this child, himself a victim of this saga, and about the circumstances in which the Richneck educators had to face.”
What does the video show?
The expletive-laden video, captured by Officer Brian Torrez’s body camera, according to the pilot, shows officers entering the classroom after the shooting.
Kovac told officers the boy “just admitted he had a bullet.” She adds that “I told the AP (Parker) there was a threat earlier.”
The boy interjects by saying “that (expletive) retired last year.”
Kovac says on the video that she called 911 after hearing the gunshot. “I went down the hallway. She had blood,” Kovac said, referring to Zwerner.
She says the boy has a modified schedule and this is the first week he’s been going to school without his mother.
The boy says the gunshot did not hurt him and Kovac notes that the boy has gunshot residue on his hands.
“My mom had this,” the boy then said, referring to the handgun. “I stole this from my mother.”
The officers ask the boy’s name and his response is silent in the video. “If you want a piece of me, come and do it, (expletive),” the boy says in the video.
The boy’s mother, Deja Nicole Taylor, served state prison time for child neglect and federal prison time in part for lying on a background check form when she purchased the gun, according to a previous USA TODAY report. She was released in February.
He continues to swear at the police and hits Kovac before being escorted out of the room by police.
The Pilot reports that the boy is currently in the care of his great-grandfather in Newport News.
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