Huguenot High School placed under lock and teach due to fights between students

Aug 16, 2023

by: Tannock Blair, Autumn Childress, Cheyenne Pagan

Posted: Aug 28, 2023 / 03:26 PM EDT

Updated: Aug 28, 2023 / 08:43 PM EDT

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Huguenot High School was reportedly under lock and teach Monday.

Shortly after 3:15 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 28, Richmond School Board member Jonathan Young alerted 8News to the school’s security action.

Richmond City Council President Mike Jones also confirmed the lock and teach order, saying it would last for “a couple of hours.”

According to Young, the lock and teach was the result of social media threats leading to fighting between students. Jones confirmed the fighting as well, emphasizing that there had been no gunfire.

Young further said that a staff member was injured amidst the fighting at some point in the morning on Monday.

Huguenot High School was placed on Lock and Teach in order to maintain safety operations and continuity of instruction after a fight that occurred between a small group of students. A safety check was conducted in the building and parking lot areas. All was clear. There is no known threat that can be confirmed at this time. School staff were made aware of the situation and families were notified via Remind. Additional police visibility will be maintained until the conclusion of the school day.

On Friday, Aug. 25, the school’s first football game of the season — against Thomas Jefferson High School — was canceled as a result of a reported “violent” social media threat.

The social media threat came less than one week into the new Richmond school year. At the Huguenot High School graduation on June 6, a graduate and his step-father were shot and killed just after the ceremony outside of the Altria Theater.

“These were not idle threats relevant to the football game. We have serious concerns relevant to what persons were intending,” Young said. “Everyone is a bit on edge right now … At Huguenot orientation, there was a real sense of optimism, exuberance in the building for a new chapter a new year.”

Young says that students had been moved to their last block of class shortly before 4 p.m.

“Until my colleagues on the School Board start taking threats of violence seriously and precluding repeat offenders from participating in school activities, we will tragically continue to experience what no student should be subjected to anywhere — but particularly at a school that was traumatized by a graduation day shooting and loss of life,” Young said in a statement.

This is a developing story, check back with 8News for updates.

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