ROANOKE COUNTY, Va. – “I just couldn’t comprehend how that could happen,” a grandparent who attended Wednesday’s basketball game at Hidden Valley Middle School, said.
Parents and students are shaken up after an off-duty police officer’s gun was found unattended in the men’s bathroom of Hidden Valley Middle School Wednesday night.
10 News sat down with a man who attended the game. He didn’t feel comfortable going on camera, but he shared his experience with us.
“You hear this on the news and think this is never going to happen to you, but you always have to be prepared for the worst. You never know what might happen,” he said.
He tells us someone in administration interrupted the game and told everyone to either evacuate or get to a classroom.
The man said he went to administration at the same time as an off-duty police officer, to see what was going on.
“I asked the assistant principal what the problem was and she wouldn’t tell me, and the Roanoke County police officer asked what the problem was and she wouldn’t tell him,” he said.
He tells me the officer went to check out the situation, and being ex-military, the man tagged along.
“I told the police officer you know, ‘I’m here with you.’ He said, ‘Okay, okay,’ we took off,” he said.
The administration eventually led the off-duty officer to the men’s bathroom.
“I go in and I see the assistant principal apologizing to the officer that she’s sorry, she’s sorry, you know. And he’s telling her it’s okay. And he tells me that everything is okay,” the man said.
He believes the officer he was with was the one who left his gun unattended.
“He looked like the wind had gone out of his sails, like he made a mistake,” he said.
He said his grandkids were affected by what happened Wednesday night.
“It shook them up,” he said.
We reached out to Roanoke County Public Relations Officer Amy Whittaker and asked if the officer was placed on leave or is being charged. We also asked how long the gun was unattended, and if it was loaded.
She responded by saying, “All of this is still being reviewed by the police department.”
When we reached out to Roanoke County Public Schools, they said their staff handled the incident quickly and appropriately.
The man we spoke with said he wants school protocols reevaluated.
“I think the school board needs to take another look at how they handle lockdowns,” he said.
