NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — A student is facing criminal charges and expulsion from Woodside High School after bringing a gun to school on Wednesday, a spokeswoman for Newport News Public Schools confirmed.
Woodside went into lockdown after school staff got a tip that a student had a gun on campus, according to Michelle Price with NNPS.
In an email sent to Woodside families, school officials said: "We immediately took swift action, initiated a lockdown, contacted the police, and conducted a security search of the student who was identified."
Price said the gun was recovered from the student's belongings and that he was cooperative and was taken into custody. He has been charged with several crimes, but the specifics of those charges have not been made public.
"We thank the person who came forward and shared the tip," the note to school families continued. "It takes all of us working together to ensure our safety."
The safety lockdown has been lifted and normal school operations have resumed at Woodside, Price said.
13News Now spoke to some Newport News residents who say this incident at Woodside High School is another frustrating example of violence in their public schools.
"I'm leaving Newport News because of this violence," said Sheena Harvey. "I don't want to put my kids through this."
"Where are the metal detectors, where is the security in our schools?" asked another Newport News mom.
On Tuesday night, the Newport News School Board laid out a safety and security plan following the Richneck Elementary School shooting on January 6 when a 6-year-old student shot his teacher.
"We want to do this right, not necessarily fast, but we want to address the issues that we have and to do it in the right way," said Dr. Terri Best, a Newport News School Board member.
Also this week, another student reportedly made a threat at Richneck, sending texts to his classmates saying he was going to “pop some bullets” and went on to tell someone to shoot up the school.
The school board said they plan to add more security officers and have all weapons detection systems in place by March 14.