HAMPTON, Va. — A Phoebus High School student faces a criminal charge. The teen is accused of bringing a gun on campus Thursday at around 8 a.m.
After a weapons detection unit alerted authorities about it and the weapon was confiscated, they said the teenager ran from the school and went home. However, police officers caught up with them.
Some neighbors told 13News Now they were surprised but not worried for their safety.
Police confirmed the student was 16 years, and now faces one count of Possession of a Firearm on School Property. Officers said it all stemmed from a routine safety check as students filed in for class.
In a message to Phoebus High School families, the executive principal added a school security officer quickly intervened and took the weapon away.
A Hampton City Schools spokeswoman advised that the division has weapons detection units in all of its schools for daily use. Other safety measures like wand metal detectors and K-9s are used for random searches.
"We feel pretty safe in this neighborhood," said neighbor Joyce Jackson. "I'm not afraid or anything."
Jackson thought it was unusual and surprising what happened Thursday morning.
"They've had several principals since I've been here and each one of them has kept it calm," Jackson added.
A Hampton Police Division spokesman said the 16-year-old accused of bringing the gun to Phoebus fled to go home after school security officers confiscated the gun. Law enforcement officers said they found him there and took them into custody.
In his message to families, Phoebus High's executive principal also said the student will not be on school grounds and will be disciplined accordingly. In an effort to reassure the community, the same administrator also wrote: "At no time was there a threat to the school or any students or staff."
Still, local advocates like Christopher Moore are concerned from multiple angles.
"Parents. Where are you getting the guns from? Are you getting them from off the street? Things of that nature. Then, we've got to deal with the mental health aspect of it, the thinking part," said Moore, who expressed qualms both about the teen's alleged act and what prompted them to do it.
Moore's group Bagz4DaKidz aims to help young people in the Seven Cities with aspects like mentorship and peaceful conflict resolution with preventing gun violence in mind.
"It's never good and there's always a better way. That's where our group comes into play. We try to go to where these problems are so we can give them a solution because right now, they're not thinking," he added.
Moore's organization is planning a summer full of programming and outreach, including a softball extravaganza on July 13 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Briarfrield Park in Hampton.