SUFFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A man was detained after police say he got into Suffolk’s Kilby Shores Elementary and barricaded himself in a bathroom with students inside.
The incident on Friday morning sent the school into a code red status just after 11:30 a.m. Police said in a release at 1:12 p.m. that a man was detained and no injuries were reported, but shared few additional details.
Parents are on edge and upset with school officials for not releasing all the details.
Friday was the last day of school for Suffolk Public Schools, with a planned early release.
In an updated release at 4:22 p.m., police confirmed the account of the events shared to 10 On Your Side by a parent. Police said the man barricaded himself inside a bathroom that was occupied by students at the time.
The first officer arrived on scene at 11:34 a.m. and the unarmed man was detained without incident at 11:40 a.m., police said. He was identified as 42-year-old Vontrail Marquis Thorpe, of Suffolk.
Thorpe made his way into Kilby Shores Elementary as other students were walking out to recess. Thorpe was spotted and the police were called while the school went into code red. Police found Thorpe in less than 10 minutes and arrested him.
He was charged with two counts of abduction, disorderly conduct, possession of a schedule I/II substance on school property and breaking and entering.
A concerned parent reached out to 10 On Your Side to relay the scary events that happened to his son’s kindergarten class. The parent, who wished to remain anonymous, said two students were in the class’s bathroom when the man ran inside.
Suffolk Police confirmed Friday afternoon that when Thorpe was found, he was barricaded inside a bathroom with two female students.
Based on his son’s account, the parent said that the man seemed to be experiencing a mental health crisis at the time, and he was apparently able to get inside the school while students were coming in from recess.
Thorpe burst in on his son’s kindergarten class and the two females taken hostage were his schoolmates, the parent said. The father is outraged that the school doesn’t have higher security measures to guard against this. He’s also upset that school officials didn’t tell parents Thorpe had made his way into a classroom, and that two students were hostages in the bathroom with him.
10 On Your Side is working to learn more details about the incident, which remains under investigation. Thorpe is being held at Western Tidewater Regional Jail.
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