Hampton elementary student brought loaded gun to school Friday, police say

HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) — Police in Hampton are investigating after they say a child brought a gun to their elementary school on Friday morning.

According to police, a student arrived at Burbank Elementary around 8:45 a.m. with a loaded gun. However, there was no bullet in the chamber.

The gun was found in the student’s backpack. School officials say they once they received a tip about the gun, staff cleared the other students from the classroom and resolved the situation in less than five minutes.

Police say the school did not go into lockdown.

A young boy was arrested. He is charged with possession of a firearm on school property, possession of firearm by a juvenile and concealed weapon.

Parents and guardians received the following phone message after the incident:

Good afternoon, this is Heidi Brezinki, the principal at Burbank Elementary. 

At Burbank, we take the education and safety of our students very seriously, and as such, I would like to apprise you of a situation that occurred today.  

Earlier this morning, our school administration received a tip that one of our students may be in possession of a weapon. We took swift action and with our ability to secure the student and weapon immediately, which was in fact a firearm, as well as remove the other students quickly and safely from the classroom, we did not need to place the entire school on a lockdown. The situation was resolved in less than 5 minutes. Please note that the parents of the students who were in the student’s classroom have been personally contacted.

HCS is working in collaboration with the Hampton Police Division. I cannot provide detail about the discipline but please know the student is not in school and is being disciplined according to the HCS Student’s Rights and Responsibilities Handbook.

The safety and security of our students and staff is our top priority and we will continue to take the appropriate measures to ensure our schools are safe. 

We appreciate the partnership with our families to create and maintain the level of safety that we want for our school and we are continuing our day of teaching and learning at Burbank.

Please take the opportunity this evening to speak with your child about the need to say something if they see something. Because one of our students followed these words of advice, we were able to intervene quickly today.

Thank you again and please know that I am honored to serve the families at Burbank.

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