NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) – Some Newport News district teachers blame the shooting which seriously hurt first grade teacher Abby Zwerner squarely on the shoulders of now-former school Superintendent Dr. George Parker III.

Parker was voted out of the superintendent role less than three weeks after the shooting, but not before teachers in his district shared personal stories of feeling not just safe — but unheard.

WAVY News has learned that Parker and members of the school board received several emails from teachers in the days following the Jan. 6 shooting. A Freedom of Information Act request revealed what was in those emails.

In one, sent three days after the shooting, a Newport News Public Schools employee wrote in an email to the school board, “Dr. Parker and his senior staff seem to want to put the blame on guns. But if the issue is only guns, then why has NNPS been the only school district to have three shootings in 15 months? The answer can be found in Dr. Parker’s leadership… students are allowed back in our schools who clearly present a danger.”

The letter claims there is “a culture of keep it hidden or you get in trouble.”

In another letter, an instructional assistant at Richneck Elementary wrote to Dr. Parker and other members of the school board to ask if the student accused of shooting Zwerner would be kept off school property.

10 On Your Side spoke briefly with that teacher in a phone call, but she would not confirm if the school had responded to her email. However, the letter went on to say, “I am very concerned about returning to the school building.”

Another teacher from a different district school claimed she had previously reported gun issues to her school principal the same week that the shooting happened.

“You have a legal and safety obligation to protect us all,” the letter said.

“This is the third strike and sending us all back … please stop. … I was threatened last year and I made them remove the student, because they weren’t going to,” the email said. “Yet is he still allowed in, and I have to see him every day. I do not feel safe.”