Schools across Rockbridge County were under heightened precautions last Wednesday after police say a teenager forced his way into a Waynesboro elementary school, shooting a staff member before he turned the gun on himself.
City of Waynesboro Police Chief David Shaw said that just after 9 a.m. Wednesday, a suspicious man was spotted on the grounds of Westwood Hills Elementary School.
Shaw said the suspect, 19-year-old Anthony Ignaitadis-Isabelle, of Waynesboro, shot through a rear door of the school and forced his way in. He was carrying a 20-gauge shotgun, Shaw said.
Police responded within three minutes and found Ignatiadis-Isabelle dead from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the library. No children were inside the library at the time.
A staff member also suffered from a non-lifethreatening gunshot wound and has since been treated at the hospital and released. The staff member was not identified.
All other staff members and students were evacuated safely. Police said the incident is still under investigation.
Schools across Rockbridge County stepped up security after the incident unfolded.
Rockbridge County Schools Assistant Superintendent Tim Martino said that as soon as school officials heard about what was happening in neighboring Augusta County, they called Rockbridge County Sheriff Tony Mc-Faddin for advice.
“We did not feel that there was a threat to any of our buildings, so we proceeded as normal,” Martino said. ‘But the sheriff’s office works hand-in-hand with us whenever there’s any emergency here or locally.”
Martino said McFaddin alerted school resource officers at all of the county’s schools and asked them to be on the lookout for anything suspicious.
At Fairfield Elementary School, which is the closest to Waynesboro, a planned evacuation drill was switched to a lockdown drill as the incident unfolded, said the school’s resource officer, deputy Oliver Schriver said.
“We just felt that with everything going on yesterday, it wasn’t necessary to do the full evacuation,” Schriver said Thursday.
Instead, students practiced sheltering in place in a corner of their locked classrooms for about 10 minutes, but a real lockdown was never issued. Still, Schriver said school officials were very aware of what was going on in Augusta County and he and staff members kept an eye out for anything suspicious.
“There was very little information being put out, so it kind of had everybody on their toes for a while,” Schriver said. “We were very vigilant. The outside of the school was watched heavily.”
In the case of a real lockdown, Schriver said parents would be alerted.
Lexington City Schools Superintendent Rebecca Walters said city schools did not go on lockdown but local police did make additional visits to both city schools for increased visibility and presence in response to the Waynesboro incident.
Buena Vista City Public Schools Superintendent Heather Ault said there was an increased police presence at all city schools as a precautionary measure.
“We are deeply grateful for their continued partnership and the support they provide each day, especially during challenging times,” Ault said.
