Police said that they detained the suspect of a Virginia high school shooting Monday that wounded two seventeen-year-old students. Steve Drew, the Police Chief of Newport News, said a girl was shot in her lower leg, and a boy was shot on the side of his face at Heritage High School. The rescue teams bring them to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Drew said that two other people injured, having links with the shooting, and taken to a hospital. One individual had a broken or sprained arm, and an individual with asthma had breathing issues. Moreover, a fifth person might be transported to the hospital directly. Police said that the suspect was young, and it was not instantly clear if the shooter was a student.
Drew said law enforcement agencies believe there was some sort of alteration. The security officials received a call about a shooting inside Heritage High School at 11:38 am. Police officers responded, evacuated the children and staff from the school, and brought the victims to area hospitals. In the meantime, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and local and state police were searching the school for any staff or student still taking shelter, Drew said.
Schools have Shelter-in-place Drills Throughout the Year
Videos shared on social media platforms showed adults and students gathered by the fences. The city’s mental health counselors were on the scene to handle the situation—Superintendent of Newport News Public School. George Parker said that several folks really shocked by this matter. He added that no superintendent, no principal, no teacher would ever want to experience this situation – just seeing the faces of innocent students and how afraid they and staff were under these situations.
Source: Web
Parker said that the schools all over the state regularly run random security checks using metal detectors and dogs. Likewise, the schools have shelter-in-place drills all over the school year. He adds that they will temporarily switch the students to virtual learning. According to Newport News Public Schools, around thirteen hundred students attend Heritage High School. On 8th September, students will return to in-person classes at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, just north of Norfolk.
In a tweet, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam praised the first responders for their heroic work in Newport News. Further, he adds that prayers are with victims and their families, and the entire community. Northam says that Virginia took great steps to reduce gun violence.
Pam and I are grateful to the first responders for their heroic work today in Newport News. Our prayers are with those hospitalized, their families, and the entire community. Virginia has made great strides to reduce gun violence—and we have more work to do.
— Governor Ralph Northam (@GovernorVA) September 20, 2021
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