Virginia teacher shot by 6-year-old student says she’ll ‘never forget the look on his face’

A Virginia teacher who was shot and wounded by a six-year-old student says it has changed her life and she has flashbacks and nightmares about that day.

“I’ll never forget the look on his face that he gave me when he pointed the gun at me,” said 1st grade teacher Abby Zwerner during an exclusive interview with NBC’s Savannah Guthrie about the student. “It changed me. It changed my life.”

He said he was still in shock and couldn’t figure it out, in a segment of the interview that aired Tuesday morning on Today.

“I’m not sure when the shock will wear off because it’s so real and so vivid is the memory of that day. I think about it every day. Sometimes I have nightmares,” she said.

Speaking publicly for the first time since the January 6 shooting, Zwerner said in part of an interview that aired on NBC Nightly News that he had a difficult recovery, including four surgeries. Some days, she said, she “couldn’t get out of bed,” but on others she was able to go about her day and make appointments.

“To go through what I’ve been through, I try to stay positive. You know, try to have a positive outlook on what’s going on and where my future is,” Zwerner said.

Zwerner was hospitalized for nearly two weeks after being shot in the chest and left arm while teaching a class at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Va.

The shooting rocked the military shipbuilding community and sent shockwaves across the country, with many wondering how a young boy could get a gun and shoot his teacher.