The assistant principal of a Virginia elementary school where a 6-year-old studentshot his teacher in 2023 “did nothing” about the fact he had a gun, despite receiving repeated warnings from colleagues, a prosecutor said in court Tuesday.

Before the January 2023 shooting at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, school employees told Ebony Parker they believed the student had a gun in his backpack, but she dismissed their concerns, said special prosecutor Josh Jenkins. Parker is now facing eight counts of felony child neglect for her role in the incident, which wounded first grade teacher Abby Zwerner.

During the trial’s opening statements, Jenkins said Parker told the employees who approached her about the child’s gun that his mother would be arriving soon to pick him up for the day.

“Does she say ‘search the child’? No,” Jenkins told the jury. “Does she say ‘call the police,’ or does she call the police? No. Does she remove the child from the classroom and separate him? No.

“She didn’t even get up from her desk. She didn’t leave her office. Warning after warning after warning, she did nothing.”

But Parker’s attorney, Curtis Rogers, said teachers should have done something if they believed a gun was present, saying they should have at least separated the child from about 19 other students in the classroom.

“That did not occur,” Rogers said. “Each one of those individuals had the authority to move those classmates.”

Rogers said the prosecution must prove Parker’s actions showed a reckless disregard for human life. Instead, Rogers placed the blame on Zwerner and others who had witnessed the child’s movements long before the shooting.

“What about these other people who had direct contact with this child?” Rogers said.

School policy at the time required crisis situations to be reported to an administrator who is required to take action, Jenkins said. A school counselor even asked for permission to search the child but Parker denied the request because searches could only be conducted by an administrator or a security officer. The school’s security officer was away at another school at the time.

That left Parker and the school’s principal with the authority to act, but the principal knew nothing about the threat because Parker did not tell her about it, Jenkins said.

“There was only one person in the school that day that had both the authority to act and the knowledge of the ongoing crisis, and that person, you will see, was Dr. Parker,” Jenkins said.

Zwerner was the first witness called to testify in the trial. She said the student had slammed her phone to the ground a few days earlier and was in a “violent” mood the day of the shooting.

During recess on the school playground, the student wore an oversized jacket with both of his hands in his pockets the entire time. Zwerner said she sent a text message with that observation to a reading specialist who had been tipped off earlier by students about the gun and reported it to Parker.

After recess, the student continued to wear the jacket in the classroom, where Zwerner was shot at a reading table. Zwerner spent nearly two weeks in the hospital, required six surgeries and does not have the full use of her left hand. A bullet narrowly missed her heart and remains in her chest.

The eight counts Parker faces include one for each of the bullets in the gun brought into the classroom, prosecutors have said. Each count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison upon conviction.

Criminal charges against school officials after a school shooting are quite rare, experts say. The shooting sent shock waves through this military shipbuilding community and the country at large, with many wondering how a child so young could gain access to a gun and shoot his teacher.

A jury awarded $10 million to Zwerner in a civil trial last November in which Parker, who no longer works at the school, was the only defendant.

The student’s mother was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for felony child neglect and federal weapons charges.

Federal immigration officials blasted California’s sanctuary policies Tuesday after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested an illegal immigrant accused of critically injuring a 4-year-old boy in a hit-and-run crash.

Aman Kumar, an Indian national living in the U.S. illegally, was arrested by ICE on May 13 after previously being released from local custody.

According to the Fresno Sheriff’s Department, Kumar was initially arrested last month after allegedly being involved in a hit-and-run crash. He was charged with felony hit-and-run causing death or injury.

Police said Kumar was driving a vehicle that struck a 4-year-old boy in Fresno, California, KSEE reported.

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The child had been playing on a swing set in a nearby backyard before leaving through a gate and entering the roadway, authorities said.

Investigators said several vehicles stopped after seeing the child in the street, but Kumar allegedly drove around the stopped traffic using the bike lane before hitting the boy.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the child was hospitalized in critical but stable condition and is expected to survive.

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DHS criticized California’s sanctuary policies after Kumar was later released from jail.

“This monster who almost killed a 4-year-old boy has been charged with a felonyhit-and-run,”DHS acting assistant secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement.

“Sanctuary politicians in California released this criminal illegal alien from jail back onto the streets,” she continued. “Thanks to the brave men and women of ICE law enforcement, this criminal illegal alien was arrested outside a criminal court.”

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According to DHS, Kumar illegally entered the United States in 2023 and was later released under the Biden administration.

The department also pointed to a letter ICE Director Todd Lyons sent in February to California Attorney General Rob Bonta urging the state to honor ICE detainers involving more than 33,000 undocumented immigrants in custody across California.

“DHS is calling on Governor Gavin Newsom and his fellow California sanctuary politicians to stop putting American lives at risk by releasing criminals into our communities to commit more crimes and hurt more innocent people,” Bis said.

DHS said California’s failure to honor ICE detainers has resulted in the release of 4,561 undocumented immigrants with criminal charges or convictions since Jan. 20.

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The department said those individuals were accused of crimes including homicide, assault, burglary, drug offenses, weapons offenses and sexual offenses.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Newsom’s office for comment.

The three men killed in Monday’s shootingat the Islamic Center of San Diegohave been identified, as a security guard who was killed is being hailed as a hero for his courage during the attack.

Imam Taha Hassane identified the security guard as Amin Abdullah. The other two victims were identified as Mansour Kaziha and Nader Awad. Police have said the tragedy, which is being investigated as a hate crime, could have been much worse without Abdullah’s intervention.

People who knew Abdullah have spoken out about his life, describing him as a father of eight and remembering him for his kindness and valor.

“Because of his heroism and his courage, his bravery, and the love for his community and his faith, he saved a lot of lives,” said Mayte Gutierrez, a former employee of the Islamic Center’s school, which is attached to the mosque. Gutierrez told “CBS Mornings” on Tuesday that she knew the security guard well.

Many have praised Abdullah for keeping the suspects away from the school when they targeted the Islamic Center on Monday morning. Hassane confirmed the entire school was safe, including all of the children and teachers, in a social media post shared in the hours after news of the shooting first broke. While speaking during a news conference, he later urged the public to respect the privacy of the victims and their families.

San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl on Tuesday said the suspects ran past the security guard, “most likely not knowing he was there,” and Abdullah then fired at them. After announcing the threat on his radio and initiating the mosque’s lockdown protocols, he “continued to engage in a gun battle” with the suspects, Wahl said.

“His actions, without a doubt, delayed, distracted and ultimately deterred these two individuals from gaining access to the greater areas of the mosque, where as many as 140 kids were within 15 feet of these suspects,” he said.

Kaziha and Awad then “inadvertently” drew the suspects back out into the parking lot, “where they were unfortunately unable to flee,” Wahl said. The suspects managed to corner and kill the two men, but while outside, police said they believe the suspects tried to flee in their car after they realized law enforcement was “seconds away.”

“All three of our victims did not die in vain,” Wahl said. “Without distracting the attention, without delaying the actions of these two individuals, without question, there would have been many more fatalities yesterday.”

The two suspects, 17 and 18 years old, were found dead inside a vehicle nearby, police said.

Wahl had earlier credited the security guard for helping contain the situation before authorities responded to the scene.

“I think it’s fair to say his actions were heroic, and, undoubtedly, he saved lives today,” Wahl said Monday.

Sam Hamideh, a parent who said he knew Abdullah through the Islamic Center, told CBS News Los Angeles that the man’s benevolence and generosity were character traits of his that really stood out.

“This guy, like, it didn’t matter who walked up … any random person could just walk up and, like, he would greet them, make sure they are OK,” Hamideh recalled. “Whether they were homeless off the street looking for something, whether it was a child or the elderly.”

Abdullah was hired by the mosque around 2019 or 2020, according to Hassane.

Abdullah “never, ever stopped smiling,” Hassane said Tuesday during a news conference. “If not for him … the carnage would be much worse. He’s the one who stopped them. Who slowed them down. If he didn’t do what he did, and he sacrificed his life, the two suspects would have easy access to every single classroom. We’re so proud of him.”

Speaking about the other victims, Hassane said Kaziha was “the pillar of the Islamic Center of San Diego,” and had been a member since 1986. Hassane said it was Kaziha who first called 911 after shots rang out.

“In the last 22 years being the imam of the Islamic Center of San Diego, I have never done anything without him,” Hassane said. “He is on the top of my list for people to call. Every single thing going wrong, even the lights not working … He was the handyman. He was the cook. He was the caretaker. He was the storekeeper. He was everything. I don’t know what I’m going to do at the Islamic Center without his assistance.”

“We miss him,” he added.

Hassane also spoke of the heroism of Awad, saying that when he heard the shooting, “he rushed. To do something. To protect. And he joined Mansour Kaziha. They died together … Both of them, they tried to do something.”

“Unfortunately, they sacrificed their lives to protect the entire community inside the Islamic Center of San Diego,” Hassane said.

Awad lived across the street from the Islamic Center and his wife is a teacher at the school, Hassane said. Awad came to pray at the center “every single day,” Hassane said.

Wahl said during a news conference Monday that all three of the shooting victims were seen in front of the mosque when police arrived. Moments later, officers were called to a different location nearby and discovered the two suspected shooters deceased inside a vehicle, according to the police chief. The FBI said both suspects were teenagers.

Hassane said the center is “used to receiving hate mail, hate messages, people driving by and cursing and all that stuff,” but that he never expected an attack like Monday’s would happen.

Federal investigators said Monday they had not yet determined a motive for the attack, but Wahl told reporters that “because of the Islamic Center location, we are considering this a hate crime until it’s not.”

FBI San Diego Field Office special agent in charge Mark Remily said Tuesday that investigators found a document the FBI called a “manifesto” in the suspects’ vehicle. The document, which has been reviewed by CBS News, appears to glorify past mass shooters and spout anti-Islamic and antisemitic rhetoric as well as racist and misogynistic speech.

“These subjects did not discriminate on who they hated,” he said, adding later, “It covered a wide aspect of races and religions.”

Remily also said the FBI and local police are conducting “extensive interviews” with the suspects’ family and friends. As of Tuesday, they had executed search warrants at three different homes, and found guns and other equipment, he said, including “numerous pistols, rifles, shotguns, ammunition, tactical gear, as well as electronics,” at two of those locations. More than 30 guns and a crossbow have been seized so far, Remily said.

Wahl said the guns belonged to one of the suspect’s parents. He said they were investigating how they got the weapons and that it was too early to determine if the parents could be facing charges. Police had previously said the mother of one of the suspects had called police prior to the shooting to report that her son, car and several guns were missing. Wahl said Tuesday it was the mother of the younger, 17-year-old suspect who called.

Remily said authorities are aware that the suspects appear to have livestreamed the shooting, but that he couldn’t comment much on it other than to say investigators were “digging into that as aggressively and as quickly as we can.”

The suspects met online and both realized they lived in the San Diego area, according to Remily.

The deadly shooting comes as places of worship, in the United States and internationally, are increasingly targeted in acts of violence. On Monday, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said more police officers would be deployed to guard places of worship to ensure “that we anticipate and try to prevent the very worst,” as he also thanked the security guard for his actions at the Islamic Center.

“We didn’t meet that mark today, but I have deep gratitude to the security officer who was here, whose actions and heroism undoubtedly saved lives,” Gloria said.

FIRST ON FOX: A California doctor accused of submitting more than $45 million in false and fraudulent Medicare claims for Botox injections—in an effort to fund a lavish lifestyle that included luxury vacations and the purchase of a $12,000 17th-century crossbow—has been convicted by a federal jury, the Justice Department announced.

Violetta Mailyan, 45, of Glendale, was convicted of nine counts of wire fraud and three counts of obstruction of a criminal investigation of a healthcare offense.

Mailyan’s operation in the Los Angeles suburb was flagged by the DOJ’s Health Care Fraud Section’s Data Analytics Team. An analysis showed that she had been paid more by Medicare for Botox injections than any other doctor in the United States, making her an extreme outlier among medical providers, prosecutors said.

At the time, Mailyan had been paid more than $24 million over the previous four years — six times the amount received by the next highest group of providers, all of whom were neurologists.

“Violetta Mailyan falsely diagnosed patients, fraudulently billed Medicare for Botox injections while she was actually on lavish vacations, and tried to trick federal agents with fake records,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division. “The Fraud Division’s data-driven approach shines a light on fraud schemes across the country, ensuring that no doctor can engage in these brazen schemes to steal taxpayer dollars.”

LOS ANGELES HOSPICE FRAUD REACHES BILLIONS AS MEDICARE PROVIDERS SCAM FEDERAL SYSTEM WITH FAKE COMPANIES

In addition to scheming to defraud Medicare, Mailyan altered medical records in an attempt to mislead investigators, authorities said. She owned and operated the Healthy Way Medical Center, which billed Medicare for Botox injections that were medically unnecessary and never actually provided.

This included billing for injections on dates when Mailyan was traveling to Cabo, Mexico; Maui, Hawaii; Las Vegas; Pennsylvania; and New York.

Furthermore, some of the injections allegedly took place on dates when the clinic was closed, or when the patient who supposedly received the treatment was actually incarcerated in federal prison.

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Typically, Medicare reimburses medical providers for Botox injections only when they are deemed necessary to treat documented cases of chronic migraines. However, Mailyan billed and received payments for thousands of injections that were either never provided, administered solely for cosmetic purposes, or given to patients whose primary care physicians had not referred them for chronic migraine treatment.

On her social media accounts, Mailyan even described herself as a “BOTOX FILLER NONSURGICAL NOSE COSMETIC DOCTOR.”

Prosecutors said that in an effort to conceal the fraud, she fabricated patient medical records—including patient consent forms—to make it appear as if patients received migraine treatments in her office. She was accused of backdating some claims to bill for injections before the patients had even contacted her clinic to request an appointment.

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Mailyan used millions of dollars she received from the fraud to fund lavish vacations and purchase luxury collectible goods, including a $3,000 painting of Ludwig 1, crown prince of Bavaria, and the $12,000 17th-century crossbow, prosecutors said.

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Mailyan faces up to 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud and five years in prison for each count of obstruction. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Mailyan’s legal team for comment.

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