VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Friday was a somber day at Salem High School after a student took his own life inside a school bathroom Thursday morning.
People are heartbroken that a teenage boy brought a gun to school and took his own life.
Many wore their school colors in remembrance of the student on Friday.
"It feels like you just don't want to talk and that you're disturbing the peace of the school at the moment, considering the drama and the insanity that happened yesterday," said 10th grade student Rachel Pulley. She sat in a classroom across from the bathroom where the incident happened.
Police were called at around 8:10 a.m. yesterday morning. Pulley said she heard the gunshot, the school was put on lockdown and there was confusion about what was going on.
Friday some students said they were in disbelief.
"I'm still definitely in shock, I just can't believe this happened. It took an emotional toll, I just can't believe it happened," said Mallary Stewart.
Parent Marlo Dean said she kept her special needs son out of school today.
"There was a gun in the school and at the end of the day that all that matters," said Dean, "My first thought was we need metal detectors in all schools."
District officials say that there are no metal detectors in the schools, however they have a number of safety measures in place like a uniformed, armed school resource officer, security cameras and said they are constantly reviewing and practicing how they respond to an emergency.
Many are now thinking and praying about the family who lost a loved one.
"Whether we knew him well or not, it's still heartbreaking because because we know it's hurting someone in our community, we know that some family is broken today" said Pulley.
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