On Friday, February 1, one Walton Middle School student brought something more than books or bubble gum to school—he showed up with a pistol. The student then handed the gun off to another boy, who put it in a locker. That afternoon, after the busses had pulled away and the school was quiet, someone called the principal, Betsy Agee, and told her about the gun.
 An arrest last week at Walton Middle School was another reminder that the good old days when children just handled water pistols are gone. |
Agee in turn called county police. Angela Rourke, the officer who’s assigned to Walton full-time, had already gone home for the weekend, but returned to school and, together with school administrators, located the pistol.
Over the weekend, things stayed outwardly quiet. But on Monday, February 4, a first student was arrested and charged and on Tuesday, so was a second. Both were taken to the Blue Ridge Detention Center. “I can’t release any charge information for either,” says Lt. Todd Hopwood, a county police spokesman. “They’re under 14.” Nor can Hopwood give details about the make and model of the weapon, whether it was loaded, or the identity of the tipster; the students’ age similarly prevents Commonwealth’s Attorney Denise Lunsford from speaking about the case or saying whether the boys have been released.
With the new week getting underway, school officials faced the task of publicizing the incident. “I was down at the school on Monday when the principal told the students about it,” says Steele Howen, a county school administrator. “They were very calm.” Small mentor groups, in which students have already been meeting regularly with assigned teachers throughout the school year, convened to talk things over. “One thing we’re trying to emphasize is that [students] have to be a part of keeping their school safe,” says Howen. “A lot of it is about building relationships so they feel they can come and talk with adults about unsafe situations.”
Principal Agee also notified parents in an e-mailed letter sent Monday afternoon. The letter repeats the theme sounded by Howen: That students, often the first to know what’s happening in their school, should consider themselves the earliest line of defense. “Speaking up is often the best prevention,” reads the letter. In this case, it appears that was true.
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