Shooter, 6, in past ‘choke’

The 6-year-old Virginia boy who shot his first-grade teacher had a history of abusing others at school — and even choked another teacher “until she couldn’t breathe,” according to a legal filing.

The earlier alleged attack was detailed in a notice of claim alerting the Newport News school district that the shot and wounded teacher, Abby Zwerner, intends to sue.

The teacher who said she was choked confirmed the alleged 2021 attack, saying she reported it to school officials.

She told The Associated Press that the boy had come up behind her as she sat in a chair in the front of the class — then locked his forearms in front of her neck, pulling back and down, hard. A teaching assistant had to pull the youngster off, she said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “I didn’t feel safe the rest of the year,” she said.

Two days before the Jan. 6 shooting at Richneck Elementary School, the boy “slammed” down Zwerner’s cellphone and broke it, according to the court papers.

He was given a one-day suspension — but when he returned to class the following day, he pulled a 9mm handgun out of his pocket and shot Zwerner.