Bassett High student praised after notifying teachers about gun in another student’s bookbag

HENRY COUNTY, Va. (WDBJ) - Henry County administration and the Sheriff’s Office are continuing to work together to figure out what could have been done differently after a handgun was found at Bassett High School Tuesday morning.

The gun was found when a student told staff that another student took the gun to school. A school resource officer searched the suspected student’s backpack and found the 9mm pistol inside.

Officials say the student was arrested and charged with having a firearm on school property.

“The situation resolved in a timely manner. No one was harmed. Ultimately, through working closely with Bassett High School and our school resource officer, we were able to keep the campus safe,” said Captain Wayne Davis with the Henry County Sheriffs Office.

The school did not go into a lockdown.

“Certainly, I think one of the things that parents always are concerned about is, was my child safe? In any event, if we consider that a student is not safe, we immediately follow other protocols. For example, we did not have to enact a lockdown yesterday. So that’s one indication that students were safe,” said Monica Hatchett, director of communications for Henry County Schools.

The Henry County crisis team will continue to have meetings with school officials and the sheriff’s office to ensure they are using the best safety practices.

“That’s one of the reasons that we work so closely together is to continue to shore up our safety practices, and make sure that similar things do not ever happen again, if we can prevent them,” added Hatchett.

The Henry County Sheriff’s Office praised the student who spoke up about the weapon on campus, and urges others to do the same.

“We’d like to encourage parents to have a talk with their children and to encourage them to come forward with any information we have,” said Captain Davis. “Without that, we may have never known this gun was in the school. We commend the bravery of that student and we’d encourage others to do the same.”

“We’re very proud of the student who was brave and shared that information because that’s something that we try to instill in our students regularly. So, we appreciate that that lesson being enacted yesterday,” explained Hatchett.

The juvenile is being held at W.W. Moore detention facility until he stands trial.

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