Former Richneck Elementary School teacher Abby Zwerner waits for court to begin during her civil lawsuit against the former assistant principal of the school where Zwerner was shot. Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot/TNS/Getty Images

Abby Zwerner instinctively raised her hand toward her heart when she saw the 6-year-old holding the gun.

After the bullet hit her, “I thought I was on my way to heaven or in heaven,” Zwerner testified Thursday during her civil case against a former school official accused of neglecting warning signs the student had brought a gun to school.

“I thought I was dying. I thought I had died,” Zwerner said with a catch in her voice as she recounted the moment she was shot in the hand and chest on January 6, 2023, while sitting at a reading table in her class

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