Newport News Public Schools and others failed to keep students safe in 2021 Heritage shooting, student claims

A law firm representing a student who was shot in the head at Heritage High School in 2021 has sent a notice of claim to Newport News Public Schools and other entities, asserting they failed in their duties to keep students safe.

Cecil Outlaw Jr., who was then 17, was one of two students shot when 15-year-old Jacari Taylor pulled a gun from his waistband and fired in a crowded hallway on Sept. 20, 2021, according to court documents filed in Taylor’s criminal case.

The notice of claim, filed early last year by the Washington law firm Price Benowitz, contends the school division and several other entities failed to ensure Taylor did not bring a gun to school that day.

That’s a particular concern, the claim notice said, because the teenager was previously convicted of shooting another teen off school grounds.

They “were well aware, or should have been aware, of the Shooter’s prior criminal history and other factors which should have made the Shooter a potential security threat and a risk to the safety of other students,” the notice of claim asserts.

In July 2020, when Taylor was 14, he was charged with malicious wounding for shooting a teen on 35th Street and Orcutt Avenue in Southeast Newport News, according to court documents in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.

He pleaded guilty in March 2021 and was awaiting a final sentence at the time of the Heritage shooting. Just before the school year began, a judge ordered the teen to wear an electronic ankle monitor to track his whereabouts.

Taylor wore that device to school as classes got underway, court documents said.

The Heritage shooting came less than two weeks into the school year as about 1,200 students returned to in-person classes following pandemic lockdowns.

According to court documents, Taylor and Outlaw were arguing in the school cafeteria when the dispute spilled into a hallway. Surveillance footage shows both falling to the floor under a staircase, with Taylor then pulling out a gun and opening fire.

Taylor fired several rounds before fleeing down the hallway as dozens of students scattered and barricaded themselves in classrooms. He ditched the gun in a trash can as he fled out a side door, court documents said.

One bullet entered behind Outlaw’s left ear, lodging in his lower left jaw. He was also struck in the leg and finger. Another round hit a 17-year-old girl in the shin as she ran. Both have been released from the hospital.

Heritage was closed for more than a month following the shooting. Taylor pleaded guilty to two counts of malicious wounding and four gun charges, and was sentenced in August 2022 to 10 years behind bars.

The notice of claim — recently obtained by the Daily Press and The Virginian-Pilot under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act — was sent to the school division and several other entities in March 2022 by Price Benowitz LLP.

Aside from the school district, others named in the letter include the Newport News Police Department, the Newport News Department of Juvenile Services, the Virginia Department of Education, the Commonwealth of Virginia and several agency heads.

“These entities ... were responsible for taking all reasonable actions to ensure the safety of the school and the safety of all its students,” the notice says. That should have included “reasonable student searches” and other means “to prevent any students from possessing firearms on school grounds.”

Letting an armed student with a criminal past into the school, the notice said, led to “foreseeable” results: Outlaw “suffered serious and permanent injuries to his hand, left ear, jaw and head, along with tremendous non-economic damages and Constitutional injury,” the notice maintained.

“Constitutional injury” is an assertion that Outlaw’s civil rights were violated by the shooting.

Though prosecutors have said Taylor and the 17-year-old were arguing at the time of the shooting, the notice asserts Outlaw was merely attempting “to intervene in an altercation between the Shooter and another student.”

Under Virginia law, anyone with a claim against a government entity — including school districts — is required to provide a notice of the claim within six months of an injury. That allows the agency or school district to investigate the cases before lawsuits are filed.

No dollar amount was listed in the notice, and no lawsuits could be found in Newport News Circuit Court or U.S. District Court pertaining to it. Kenneth LaDuca, the attorney with Price Benowitz who wrote the notice, did not return phone calls seeking comment about the case.

Michelle Price, a spokeswoman for Newport News Public Schools, said the division’s insurance provider, the Virginia Risk Sharing Association, told her Friday that no payouts have been made in the Outlaw matter.

It could not be determined Friday why Taylor was in the regular student population at Heritage rather than in an alternative program such as the Enterprise Academy.

The school division is supposed to be notified if a student is charged with various offenses, including gun and shooting charges. A process Price provided to the Daily Press says such students are typically to be placed in an alternative program, though a parent can ask for a review within three days.

Price said she could not address what happened in Taylor’s case because of student privacy laws.

Kim Lee, a spokeswoman for the City of Newport News, responded to the Daily Press on behalf of the Police Department and Department of Juvenile Services. She said the city received the notice of claim, but “has not been served with any lawsuit filed by Mr. Outlaw, nor has the city paid anything in settlement of any claim by him.”

The Heritage shooting was the first of three high-profile shootings at Newport News schools in less than 16 months.

In December 2021, one student killed another in the parking lot of Menchville High after a school basketball game. A Circuit Court jury failed to reach a verdict in that case in an October trial, with a new trial expected this year.

In a more recent shooting that has garnered national headlines, a 6-year-old first grader at Richneck Elementary shot his 25-year-old teacher, Abigail Zwerner, in the hand and upper chest on Jan. 6.

Police have not yet filed any criminal charges in that case, though the investigation is pending.

Newport News Public Schools has announced plans to purchase 90 metal detectors and install them at all 40 schools, from high school to the elementary level.

Peter Dujardin, 757-897-2062, pdujardin@dailypress.com