Judge releases bodycam video after Richneck shooting

A Newport News judge has released nearly three minutes of body-camera footage showing the immediate aftermath of a six-year-old student shooting teacher Abby Zwerner at Richneck Elementary School in January 2023. The child’s face is blurred in the recording, which was made public October 6, 2026, under a court order. Officer Brian Torrez’s camera shows officers entering a classroom where reading specialist Amy Kovac is holding the child. An officer recovers a handgun as Kovac tells police the child had a weapon. Asked about the gun, the boy says he took it from his mother. He repeatedly curses at Kovac and the officers and responds defiantly to their questions. The footage captures the response after Zwerner had left the classroom and collapsed in the school office. The bullet passed through her hand and entered her chest. She survived. The video shows Kovac staying with the child as officers arrive and remove him from the room; it does not document what led to the shooting. Kovac testified in May 2026 that the child punched her and knocked off her glasses. The punch is not visible in the body-camera footage.