CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Three days after a gunman wounded a staff member and then took his own life in the school’s library, Westwood Hills Elementary School in Waynesboro received a threat that police were later able to determine was a hoax.
Waynesboro Police and Waynesboro Public Schools announced Monday that a suspect had been located and “charges are likely pending,” after being alerted “during the overnight hours Sept. 5” by an out-of-state source of a threat against Westwood Hill. The information indicated a potential Tuesday incident at the school.
“We are so sorry to have to share this message at such a difficult time for our community,” a school division social media post said.
The WPD announcement said the tip triggered an investigation that led to locating the individual Monday and determining the threat to be false. Harrisonburg Police assisted in finding the suspect.
As a precaution, WPD searched the school and increased patrols of the facility over the weekend, WPD said.
On Sept. 2, Anthony I. Ignatiadis-Isabelle, 19, of Augusta County, forced his way into Westwood Hills at 9:12 a.m., shooting through a rear door with a 20-gauge shotgun, according to WPD. He wounded a staff member, who suffered a non-life threatening gunshot wound and was treated and released.
Ignatiadis-Isabelle was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in the school’s library. No students were in the library at the time of the incident.
