HAMPTON ROADS, Va. - As families are getting ready to send their kids back to school, the News 3 Investigative Team wanted to examine how school threats are handled.
Kids and staff should be safe in school but unfortunately, sometimes they are not.
The country was left heartbroken again after watching a gunman open fire in Uvalde, Texas killing 19 elementary school kids and two teachers in May. This was one of the deadliest school shootings in history.
The 18-year-old suspect was in the building for over an hour before being shot and killed by law enforcement.
Months later some parents and people in the community are still furious and demanding answers about the response time from law enforcement on that awful day.
While Hampton Police Chief Mark Talbot said he has no direct insight into what happened that day but said it didn’t seem like best practices were used.
Talbot said it is important after any tragedy to reflect and learn from any mistakes that were made.
Threats to schools continue to be a reality in Hampton Roads.
In December of 2021, there were threats made at Camden Middle School. The Sheriff said a group of students planned an attack on 4 other students.
In September 2021 there were threats made online to shoot up schools in Norfolk, Chesapeake, and Virginia Beach.
In September 2022 two 17-year-olds were shot inside Heritage High School in Newport News.
While school shootings are rare, Talbot said what’s more common are disputes in communities spilling over into the classrooms and turning violent.
“The most pressing threat to violence in our schools is violence in our community,” said Talbot.
The News 3 I-team also uncovered other cases that didn’t make headlines – a student was seen on social media with a gun then posting “Plaza be ready Friday”- when asked if he was planning violence – allegedly writing “End of school year.”
We reached out to the Virginia Beach Police Department about the incident and they issued the following information:
On 05/26/22 at approximately 3:04 p.m., officers from the Virginia Beach Police Department responded to Plaza Middle School for a suspicious person call for service. The suspect in the case is a juvenile, so no further information can be shared in reference to the investigation or outcome related to that individual. There was no credible threat found during the investigation.
Court records reveal the principal at a Virginia Beach High School called police when a student posted online that she was going to shoot and kill her relatives several weeks ago.
The Hampton Police Chief says unfortunately online threats are common due to the easy access to the internet, social media, and cell phones.
“We find ourselves dealing with those types of threats an uncomfortable amount of time,” said Talbot.
He said most threats don’t turn violent.
“The threat itself is meant to cause fear, maybe to terrorize, but very often it’s not connected to an actual intent to do physical harm,” said Talbot.
We asked Talbot how a threat would be investigated to determine whether it should be deemed serious.
“Ultimately, you would look to see if any steps were taken to facilitate violence. Did you obtain a firearm, did you enter the school and scope out the location, is there any evidence that are specific targets that you have in your mind, what steps have you taken in furtherance of that threat,” said Talbot.
He said it is essential for law enforcement and school resource officers to have a plan in place, ready to execute in the event of an emergency.
“We spend a lot of time routinely training for school violence. We have policies in place that dictate how we’ll respond. We talk about it our leadership teams, going over different aspects of it,” said Talbot.
Law enforcement says they are planning for the worst, encourage adults and kids to report threats, and always take them seriously.
“If somebody threatens to be violent, believe them. Don’t laugh at all don’t laugh it off or take it as a joke or a sign of frustration, although it might be. If somebody threatens violence, it’s appropriate for police to check and see if they actually intend to do violence,” said Talbot.
He said students should tell a trusted adult if they see something concerning and adults should report potential problems to authorities.
“We should never let ourselves become numb to a gun in a locker or a gun in somebody’s book bag or anything of the sort."
"I think each and every incident offer us the opportunity for somebody to lose their life,” said Talbot.
Virginia Beach Police said, “We would encourage parents and caregivers to reinforce with children the seriousness of making threats at or toward a school or school personnel. The consequences of these threats can result in criminal charges and confinement in the juvenile detention center.”
