A gunman pressured his means right into a Virginia elementary college on Wednesday, leaving a staffer wounded earlier than turning the gun on himself, authorities mentioned Wednesday.
The 19-year-old suspect, Anthony Ignatiadis-Isabelle, was discovered lifeless within the college’s library from an obvious self-inflicted gunshot wound, police in Waynesboro, about 30 miles from Charlottesville, mentioned.
Workers at Westwood Hills Elementary Faculty alerted police to a “suspicious particular person” on the grounds at roughly 9:12 a.m. Wednesday, police mentioned.
The varsity, which was in session, applied lockdown procedures, in line with Waynesboro Police Chief David Shaw.
When police arrived, they discovered the suspect within the library, “lifeless from an obvious self-inflicted gunshot wound,” Shaw mentioned at a press briefing on Wednesday. No college students are believed to have been within the library on the time, college officers mentioned.
One employees member suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound and has been handled and launched, in line with Shaw.
Police reply to an incident at a college in Waynesboro, Virginia, Sept. 2, 2026.
WHSV
Ignatiadis-Isabelle was not a scholar of Waynesboro Public Faculties, in line with Superintendent Jeffrey Cassell.
Authorities didn’t share any particulars on an alleged motive. Shaw mentioned he didn’t have any info to share concerning the weapon and whether or not the suspect had any reference to the sufferer. No extra particulars on the sufferer had been launched.
The taking pictures stays underneath investigation, police mentioned.
“Immediately is the day each college system hopes they by no means must cope with,” Cassell mentioned throughout Wednesday’s press briefing, getting emotional. “I have to reward the response of our employees and the Waynesboro Police Division, the Augusta County Sheriff’s Workplace, the Virginia State Police, and our native, state and federal companions.”
Cassell mentioned that the college’s “security and safety protocols and procedures labored.”
“Workers notified regulation enforcement instantly, and our college executed lockdown procedures,” he mentioned. “Each scholar and employees member is secure and returned house to their households. Please hug your youngsters and your households this night.”
