Virginia elementary school assistant principal Ebony Parker (Photo courtesy of Court TV)

A Newport, Virginia elementary school assistant principal who was accused of ignoring warnings before a 6-year-old student shot his teacher and charged had her case dismissed by a judge, according to NBC News.

Ebony Parker was charged with eight counts of felony child neglect in the 2023 shooting at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News. First-grade teacher Abby Zwerner was injured.

State Circuit Judge Rebecca Robinson said she was striking all eight counts against Parker, who broke down in tears.

The eight counts included one for each of the bullets in the gun the student used, prosecutors charged.

Curtis Rogers, an attorney for Parker, said it was the responsibility of the teachers to do something if they believed the child had a gun. He told the court that the teachers could at least have separated the child from the other students in the classroom.

Zwerner testified at the trial that the student had acted out a few days before the shooting and was in a “violent” mood the day of the incident.

She recalled that the child was wearing an oversized jacket and had both hands in his pockets at recess. The student continued to wear the jacket in the classroom, where Zwerner was shot.

She spent several weeks in the hospital, underwent six operations and still cannot fully use her left hand because of her injuries.

A bullet narrowly missed her heart and remains in her chest.

At a civil trial last year, a jury awarded Zwerner $10 million after it found Parker liable for ignoring warning signs. Zwerner no longer works at the school.

The child’s mother, Deja Taylor, was arrested after the shooting on a state charge of felony child neglect and a federal weapons charge. She was sentenced in 2023 to two years in prison on the child neglect charge and 21 months on the federal charge.