Sept. 2 (UPI) — A 19-year-old gunman forced his way into a Virginia elementary school on Wednesday morning where he wounded an employee before turning the weapon on himself, authorities said.
The suspect, identified as Anthony Ignatiadis-Isabelle of Waynesboro, Va., was found by police dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the library, the Waynesboro Police Department said in a statement.
Authorities said police were notified of a suspicious individual on the grounds of Westwood Hills Elementary School in Waynesboro at 9:12 a.m. EDT. Officers responded within minutes, entered the school and found Ignatiadis-Isabelle in the library where there were no students at the time of the incident.
One staff member, identified only as an adult, was shot by the suspect, suffered what police described as a non-life-threatening gunshot wound and was released from the hospital after receiving treatment.
Little information about the shooting has been made public. Waynesboro Police Chief David Shaw would not detail during a press conference exactly how the suspect was gained entry to the school, which requires one to be buzzed in, only that it was “forced.”
He said he was unsure of what position the wounded employee held at the school, what their possible relation was to the shooter or where they were shot. He also said he did not know if the alleged shooter was known to police. The suspect was not and had never been a student at Westwood Hills Elementary School, Superintendent Jeffrey Cassell said.
The school was immediately put into lockdown following the shooting, according to Cassell, who said the facility would be closed on Thursday.
“Today is the day every school system hopes they never have to deal with,” an emotional Cassell said. “Every student and staff member is safe and returned home to their families. Please hug your children and your families this evening.”
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Shaw said that as a precautionary measure, additional law enforcement would be at the school for the remainder of the week.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said in a statement that its Washington field office responded to the shooting.
“My heart is with these young students, their parents and families, and the teachers and staff at the school,” Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger said in a statement that explained she was monitoring the emergency at Westwood Hills Elementary School.