Abigail Zwerner, the Virginia teacher who was seriously injured when police say she was intentionally shot by a 6-year-old student during class, says her recovery remains grueling.
Zwerner, speaking publicly for the first time in an interview to air Tuesday on the «TODAY» show, said he faces «obstacles and challenges» following multiple surgeries after being shot in the left hand and upper chest. Her occupational therapy appointments have also exhausted her physically and mentally, she told «TODAY» co-host Savannah Guthrie.
«Some days are not so good, where I can’t get out of bed. Some days are better than others, where I can get out of bed and get to my appointments,» said Zwerner, 25. with his left hand bandaged after a recent fourth surgery to help a bone that was severely damaged.
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Physical scars are healing, he said, including a wound on the side of his body where doctors inserted a chest tube after his lung collapsed.
«But, you know, to get through what I’ve been through, I try to stay positive,» said Zwerner, a first-grade teacher at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News. «You know, try to have a positive perspective on what happened and where my future is headed.»
Zwerner was praised for her handling of the shooting, in which she escorted about 20 students to safety. She was hospitalized for almost two weeks.
She said in an interview with NBC News on Monday that she still doesn’t have full function in her left hand, making the simplest of tasks like making a fist, opening a water bottle and getting dressed extremely difficult. She said that her doctors are still not sure if she will be able to use her hand as before.
«Physical therapy is not only physically exhausting but also mentally exhausting. I’m supposed to move them once an hour, throughout the hour,» he said of his fingers, «just manipulating them to get the blood flowing and getting them moving back to normal.» hand».
The Jan. 6 shooting raised concerns about possible security lapses at the kindergarten through fifth-grade school and at a school district rocked by other incidents of gun violence at local schools in the past 18 months.
The law firm representing Zwerner plans to file a lawsuit in two weeks related to the case.
“I can tell you that there was failure on multiple levels in this case, and there were adults who were in positions of authority who could have prevented this tragedy from happening and didn’t,” said attorney Diane Toscano.
Toscano has said the boy who shot Zwerner had behavior problems and a pattern of problematic interactions with school staff and other students.
According to a notice of intent to sue provided to the Newport News school board on Jan. 24, the boy received a one-day suspension for breaking Zwerner’s cell phone and returned the next day with a Taurus 9mm pistol that he used to shoot your teacher. in the classroom while she sat at a table reading.
Three teachers had gone to school administration about the boy’s behavior and suspicion that he had a weapon on campus, Toscano said. A source close to the incident told NBC News that Zwerner had sent a text message to a loved one before she was shot saying the boy was armed and that school officials were not acting.
Following the shooting, the 6-year-old’s family said in a statement that the gun was «secured» at the home and that they «have always been committed to responsible gun ownership and to keeping firearms out of the reach of children.» «. «
The family also said the boy is acutely disabled and, after the shooting, was receiving the «treatment he needs» under court-ordered temporary detention at a medical facility.
Newport News police conducted interviews with school staff and students before turning the case over to the Newport News Commonwealth Attorney in February on possible criminal charges.
Police said the boy’s mother legally purchased the gun he used, but did not specify how she got it or if it was safe as the family claims.
Local prosecutor Howard Gwynn told NBC News this month that while a 6-year-old boy could theoretically be criminally charged under Virginia law, he would not pursue charges against the student.