PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Author's note: The video above is on file from October 4, 2021.
Students at I.C. Norcom High School walked out of class this afternoon with a warning from the principal, after a fellow Portsmouth Public Schools student tried bringing a gun into the building. School officials and police officers stopped the student before he or she entered the building.
A police officer stayed on campus when students walked to their buses and parents' cars Tuesday afternoon.
The high school's principal, Dr. Laguna Foster, wrote this email to teachers, students and parents:
"Good afternoon, Norcom families –
This is Dr. Foster with an important update about our school’s safety. This afternoon, at roughly 1:30 p.m., a student tried to enter our building with a loaded gun. Thanks to the security measures in place at our school, the student was denied entry, immediately detained and now in custody with the Portsmouth Police Department. Weapons, of any kind, are not allowed on school campuses, and not only will those responsible for bringing any weapon to school be disciplined here, they will also face criminal charges. Parents, please help us share this message with your children, and remind them of the important role we all play in keeping our schools safe. As always, I thank you for your support of I.C. Norcom High School."
Meanwhile, community youth leaders in Portsmouth say the 'zero-tolerance' policy is just the start.
Joe Hansley, who founded the Joe Lee Hansley Foundation, helps connect with teens in the city. He works closely with students at I.C. Norcom High School, and when he learned of this news, he said it hurt his heart.
"News like a young person bringing in a gun...that's just troubling," Hansley said.
Hansley says most of the students he works with are great teenagers, and he even worked with one student who got kicked out of a high school in Newport News for getting in trouble.
He says after working one-on-one with this student for months, that student went onto college and now has a high-standing GPA. Hansley says students are often not shown what other choices they can make in life.
"A lot of people aren't doing positive stuff. They aren't doing the right things," Hansley said. "What's needed is to come in and love them. Not just loving on them by talking to them, loving on them by showing them."
Hansley says there is great potential among the high school students, and he wants them to take this warning from the school seriously.
"Don't do it...don't do it. There are other ways to resolve conflict," he said.
Portsmouth police say the person who tried to bring in a gun is a student with Portsmouth Public Schools, but couldn't say if the student attended I.C. Norcom High School.
Police are not identifying the student at this time. I.C. Norcom High School has School Resource Officers on campus, but police did not specify if those officers helped in this arrest.