Crime 'I Will Never Forget the Look on His Face': Va. Teacher Shot by 6-Year-Old Recounts Moment of Terror "It's changed me. It's changed my life," Abigail Zwerner, 25, told TODAY about the Jan. 6 shooting By Corin Cesaric Corin Cesaric Corin Cesaric is an Associate Editor at PEOPLE. They have been working at PEOPLE for one year. People Editorial Guidelines Published on March 21, 2023 12:14PM EDT Abigail Zwerner. Photo: today The Virginia teacher who was shot by her 6-year-old student is speaking out. In an interview with TODAY, Abigail Zwerner, 25, gave on update on how she's been progressing since the harrowing incident. "I've been doing okay," she told TODAY's Savannah Guthrie. "It's been challenging. I've gone through a lot of obstacles and challenges." Va. Teacher Shot by 6-Year-Old Student Says 'I Try to Stay Positive' in First Interview On Jan. 6, Zwerner was in her first-grade classroom at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Va., when one of her students shot her. She raised her hand and the bullet went through her hand and then struck her chest. "It could've been fatal," Zwerner said on TODAY. "We believe — with my hand being up, with it going through my hand first — we believe that, by the bullet going through the hand first, that it most likely saved my life." Shortly after the shooting, Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew said at a press conference that the young student was taken into custody and Drew described the shooting as intentional. Newport News Commonwealth's Attorney Howard Gwynn told NBC News in early March that the 6-year-old would not face charges, saying that the "prospect that a 6-year-old can stand trial is problematic." 6-Year-Old Boy Shoots Teacher at Virginia Elementary School: 'This Was Not an Accidental Shooting' "I remember him pointing the gun at me," Zwerner said on TODAY. "I remember the look on his face. I remember the gun going off. I remember feeling something. It was a pretty scary day." "There's some things that I'll never forget. And I just will never forget the look on his face that he gave me while he pointed the gun directly at me," she added. "That's something that I will never forget. It's changed me. It's changed my life." Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. Zwerner's attorney, Diane Toscano, told TODAY that she plans to file a lawsuit against the school. "I can tell you there were failures on multiple levels in this case, and there were adults that were in positions of authority that could have prevented this tragedy from happening and did not," Toscano said, TODAY reports.