A 19-year-old armed man entered a Virginia elementary school roughly 30 miles west of Charlottesville on Wednesday morning, wounding an adult staff member before fatally shooting himself, authorities said at a news conference later in the day.
Waynesboro Police Chief David Shaw identified the suspect as Anthony Ignatiadis-Isabelle and said he was found “dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.”
Police said Ignatiadis-Isabelle’s body was discovered inside the library at Westwood Hills Elementary School. No students were in the library when the shooting occurred, officials said.
Jeffrey Cassell, superintendent of Waynesboro Public Schools, credited the school’s lockdown procedures and emergency preparedness training, saying the response “worked” during the crisis.
Authorities responded to a shooting at Westwood Hills Elementary School in Waynesboro, Va., on Sept. 2, 2026. (WGME)
“Our safety and security protocols and procedures worked. Staff notified law enforcement immediately, and our school executed lockdown procedures. Every student and staff member is safe and returned home to their families,” Cassell said.
“If you don’t get emotional today, you never will. Today is the day every school system hopes they never have to deal with,” Cassell added, appearing to choke up. “Please hug your children and your families this evening.”
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Waynesboro Public Schools Superintendent Jeffrey Cassell during a press conference after a shooting at Westwood Hills Elementary School on Sept. 2, 2026. (WVAW)
Ignatiadis-Isabelle had not attended any school in the district, Cassell told reporters.
Authorities did not share any details about an alleged motive, nor did they reveal anything about the weapon used or if the deceased gunman had a connection to the staff member who suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.
The identity of the staff member, who was treated and released from the hospital, has not been made public.
Police emphasized multiple times throughout the press conference that the investigation remains active and ongoing.
The last school shooting in Virginia occurred on Aug. 15 at Virginia State University in Chesterfield County. Five students were left injured and the suspect, 19-year-old Camron Harris, was arrested the same day after police said officers found him hiding in a closet inside one of the campus dorm buildings.