‘We are not safe’ – Henrico High students call for more security measures after school stabbing

Several Henrico High School students said they fear for their safety after a recent stabbing on campus and during a Dec. 12 meeting urged members of the Henrico School Board to make immediate security enhancements at the school.

During lunchtime Dec. 4, a Henrico High student stabbed another student in the neck with a sharp object on the school’s outdoor campus. Henrico Police responded to the scene and the school was immediately put on lockdown and then entered “lock-and-teach” mode. The victim was reported to be in stable condition after receiving surgery later that day.

Students returned to school the following Thursday and Friday, but were met with a “sense of unnatural silence” and lingering feelings of fear and anxiety, said Henrico High senior Ashanti Brunette, who recalls walking past dried blood still on the ground in the days after the incident.

“Seeing the aftermath of it all – the poorly cleaned up crime scene and still seeing the dried up blood on the pavement and on the door – as I saw this, it spoke something to me: we are not safe,” Brunette said at the school board meeting. “I am afraid that if we do not come up with something, we will have more victims with similar stories.”

Henrico High senior Makenzie Nelson – the daughter of Henrico Board of Supervisors Chair Tyrone Nelson – said that the school’s student body expected an “immediate change,” including more visible security on the campus’ outdoor walkways and common areas, more supervision during lunch breaks, and stronger cell phone policies to prevent conflicts from escalating.

“The emotional and psychological toll this incident has taken on our school community cannot be overstated. I believe it is a turning point and a call to action for all of us,” Nelson said. “This incident has brought to light the undeniable reality that the current safety measures at our school are not sufficient.”

Several other students, parents, and community members, including Henrico High Principal Karin Castillo-Rose, sat in the audience while students spoke out to the school board at the public forum.

In a joint statement released Dec. 4, HCPS Superintendent Amy Cashwell and Henrico Police Chief Eric English said the stabbing was an “isolated incident” and that the school system was working to find solutions to maintain student and staff safety.

“We want you to know how seriously we take this matter and our shared commitment to keeping you and your family safe,” the statement reads. “We will continue to work tirelessly to find solutions and resources that keep our students – and the incredible adults who teach and support them – safe and sound.”

School board member Ryan Young, who represents the Fairfield District, and other county officials also said that they were considering enhanced security measures such as more school security officers and enclosing Henrico High’s open campus with fencing.

The day of Dec. 4 was full of confusion and anxiety for Henrico High sophomore Jack George, who wrote on the school board’s online public forum that students were put in lockdown with “no clarification or explanation” about what was going on.

“Everyone was talking and texting their friends, trying to figure out what was happening…the teacher had us go to the back of the room, and she turned off the lights. I heard a lot of rumors about what happened during my time sitting under a lab table. ‘There was an active shooter threat, there was a medical emergency,’” George wrote. “It wasn’t until later that we discovered what occurred on our campus.”

That fear and confusion was also felt by Christine Walker when her daughter, a junior at Henrico High, texted her on Dec. 4 while in lockdown, fearing that there was an active shooter.

“She texted me that she loved me as if it was the last thing she would say to me,” Walker wrote on the online forum. “That is what she was feeling and that is traumatic for both of us.”

Henrico High parents and staff received multiple communications through email and ParentSquare on Dec. 4 about the lockdown, HCPS Communications Director Eileen Cox said, with details about the incident released later that day.

Henrico High School, like all other HCPS schools, has weapons scanners at its main entrances, operated by school security officers, that students must pass through each morning to enter the building. However, Henrico High freshman Logan Corey said he has seen students bypass the scanners and has seen bags go unchecked even when the scanners are set off.

“I’ve observed at the weapons scanners [that] security doesn’t check bags that are flagged red and often ignore them. I’ve also seen fellow students skip through the scanners without consequences,” Corey said. “What use are the rules when people just choose to ignore them?”

Corey said he believes that the school administration fails to “treat rule-breaking seriously” because administrators are “scared it will reflect badly on the school.”

Walker said that she is also concerned about staff not consistently enforcing consequences. Her daughter, who is enrolled in Henrico High’s Center for the Arts specialty program, regularly deals with “the smell of marijuana everywhere in the school,” “restrooms being locked,” “inappropriate comments and harassment,” and students being rude to staff members.

“My daughter dreads going to that school every day and I am having a hard time justifying keeping her in the [Center for the Arts] program because the stress and anxiety don’t seem worth it,” Walker wrote. “The community at the school has to own a large part of the problem but I also think there is fatigue with the teachers and those with the capacity to hold students accountable.”

Other parents brought up concerns about open campus schools. Henrico High is one of several open campuses at HCPS, which are partially-outdoor campuses that are not fully enclosed. Chevin Young, whose daughter goes to Varina High School, said the school’s open campus does not provide enough security for its students.

“We need a new school at Varina High School,” Young said to the school board. “This open campus allows anybody at any time to access the school. Somebody can cause havoc, vandalism, or mass destruction. It's only by the grace of higher power that something has not happened yet.”

For Corey, this is not his first school stabbing. While he was a seventh grader at Brookland Middle School, the school went into lockdown after a stabbing occurred on the outdoor campus. He remembers hearing the words, “This is not a drill” on the intercom, and feelings of panic set in.

“School is a place where you are supposed to feel safe, not being scared or wondering if you will return back home,” Corey said. “If my classmates and I are feeling this way as teens, just think how our parents feel.”

George said that he had witnessed many violent fights at Henrico High, but never one that had escalated to this level. He hopes that the school board will take immediate action to ensure a situation like this never happens again.

“I hate having to fear for my life when I enter an educational environment, not knowing whether I will get to see my family or friends again,” George wrote. “Something has to be done.”

Liana Hardy is the Citizen’s Report for America Corps member and education reporter. Her position is dependent upon reader support; make a tax-deductible contribution to the Citizen through RFA here.