SUFFOLK, Va. — An unfortunate incident at a Suffolk elementary school is prompting some upgraded security measures for the new school year.
Vontrail Thorpe, 42, barricaded himself in a girls bathroom at Kilby Shores Elementary School on the last day of school, while two students were inside. Thorpe has since been charged with two counts of abduction, disorderly conduct, possession on school property and breaking and entering. He is due back in court next week.
Suffolk Superintendent Dr. John B. Gordon said a lot of these additional measures were in the works before this incident even happened. He said, however, they did learn from it and they’re taking what they can from it and moving forward.
“The entire time he’s running in the street, including when he first runs on the campus, he’s looking behind him,” Gordon said.
Thorpe was briefly caught on security cameras before running onto the playground at Kilby Shores Elementary School and making his way inside as kids were going out to recess around 11:28 a.m. on June 14.
“As one student right here is trying to make their way out, this is when this staff member, the teacher, notices that there is a stranger in the building,” Gordon said in reviewing the video.
Gordon said the teacher then confronted Thorpe, telling him to leave. Within seconds, he then barricaded himself in the girls bathroom. At the time, two students were inside.
The teacher then sends a student to get help, and is also able to get the attention of other nearby teachers and staff. They start arriving between 11:29 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.
“She’s turning this way now, communicating with the other teachers in the hallway, letting them know that someone is there,” Gordon said.
The school is put on lockdown at 11:30 a.m. Suffolk Police is called at the same time.
Gordon said Thorpe was pushing back on the other side of the door. Court documents detailed that he was suffering from a mental health crisis.
“He has his shoulder, more than likely his foot, up against the door and he is — he’s actually believing that man was with our safety team and other staff members, that they were more than likely the people that he thought was chasing them,” Gordon said.
By 11:33 a.m., the school security monitor and male staff members were able to get the door about halfway open and were talking with Thorpe.
“They did not want to escalate the behavior of the intruder because, you know, something’s going on,” Gordon said, “and so part of the training is keeping people calm and that’s what they really should get a lot of kudos about.”
The principal is communicating with students, encouraging them to lock themselves in the stalls.
“The students that were in there, they were extremely mature, you know, extremely calm,” Gordon aid.
Gordon said the school contacted the parents initially, but he added that he called them as well. He said the parents were very understanding and very supportive, but thankful for the call.
“We have to think about those two students and their families more than anyone else,” Gordon said.
At 11:36 a.m., police arrived, entered the restroom and Thorpe was in custody by 11:39 a.m. At 12:32 p.m., Kilby Shores parents were notified about an incident in the school, and then a letter was sent home at 1:11 p.m. with more details.
Some parents 10 On Your Side spoke with on the day of the incident said they wished they would’ve been notified sooner that something had happened.
Suffolk Public Schools showed us the message that was sent to parents during the school day:
The letter that went out to parents less than an hour later had more details about the incident.
Prior to the letter going home, Gordon said they were investigating what happened.
“You can’t share the information of all the details until you have the full story,” Gordon said.
Gordon said they had to speak with the teachers involved, the staff members who were there and watch the security footage of the incident. At the same time, the Suffolk Police Department was conducting their own investigation.
“They walked a building from not only the path that the intruder took to get into the school, but also the path for every exterior door around the building, because we have to be able to to learn from it,” Gordon said. “Because some of our schools have the same blueprints, you want to be able to make sure that that doesn’t happen again.”
In an interview with 10 On Your Side, Police Chief James Buie told us this incident was not a breach of security. Dr. Gordon agreed, calling it unfortunate timing.
“The timing of it all that just so happens when the teacher is opening the door, holding the door and facing to the right that her back is turned, someone runs in,” Gordon said. “It’s just a bizarre timing of it all.”
Gordon said they do intruder drills as part of their safety boot camps for staff. He said they take notice of what is happening nationally and work to customize it for their schools.
Gordon said they had already discussed some changes and had certain security upgrades in place before this incident occurred, like buying more walkie talkies for staff.
“Being able to have not only sight line of vision, but also to have radio contact, we think, is going to be key,” Gordon said. “It’s just really about relaying communication. That is something that we wanted to focus on.”
He said their focus in those tense moments was always on the students.
“The focus was on communicating with the police department, the focus was on making sure that the two students were safe, and the focus was on trying to find a peaceful way to remove the intruder from the building,” Gordon said.
They also plan to have their safety, security and support monitors walk the grounds before classes go outside.
“We had originally had 28 safety, security and support monitors, and they were primarily going to be a second layer support, along with our school security officers for the schools,” Gordon said. “Now we are expanding those responsibilities for the perimeter of the building when it comes to knowing that classes will be going outside.
“It’s our job is to try to make sure that we are as proactive as we can, and then to try to make sure that you don’t have the same safety issue happen again.”
Something else they’re working to prevent from happening again? More teen lives lost to gun violence. A video that circulated on social media in May showed 17-year-old King’s Fork High School student Raleigh Freeman III putting a gun to his head, and then moments later, pulling the trigger.
“That’s something that shook us all,” Gordon said. “We’ve had too many situations where we’ve had current students, and probably actually more former students, that have had weapons charges that have been a part of some level of violence.”
Suffolk is launching a new safe schools campaign this school year centered around gun safety education and awareness. Through the campaign, they plan to ask questions such as: do you have a gun in your home, or a lock box, and who has access to the lock box.
“If it saves one student’s life, if it saves one staff members life it’s definitely worth it,” Gordon said.
Because when Suffolk’s superintendent hears about a student getting a gun, or a school like Kilby Shores going into lockdown, it takes him back.
Gordon was in his early years of teaching at Armstrong High School in Richmond in 1998 when a student opened fire, hitting the basketball coach.
“Literally, I’m in the main office when he runs and falls at my feet and says, ‘I’ve been shot,'” Gordon said.
The basketball coach was OK, but he said it’s something that still sticks with him 26 years later, and is a reason he continues to advocate for gun education awareness in schools.
Gordon said they don’t want to have to think tragedies like these happening, but they have to.
“These aren’t drills,” Gordon said. “This is reality. I mean, this is just reality of what we deal with.”
Gordon said they have only received one parent email regarding concerns over safety since the Kilby Shores intruder incident happened. He said he hopes they can put the day behind them so the students involved can move forward.
“It’s not just that we had an intruder in the school and no one did anything,” Gordon said. “This was a just bizarre situation.”
He said the students involved are still on his mind as they start the next school year.
“We have to think about those two students and their families more than anyone else,” he said.
The former principal at Kilby Shores retired at the end of the year. The new principal is Dr. Sabrina Lee. Gordon told 10 On Your Side she is excited to start the school year.
The first day of school for Suffolk is Aug. 26.