A reported shooting at a Virginia elementary school triggered a massive emergency response and precautionary lockdowns Wednesday morning before authorities announced that the scene had been secured and every student and staff member was safe.

Law enforcement rushed to Westwood Hills Elementary School in Waynesboro following reports of gunfire shortly before 10 a.m. The Augusta County Sheriff’s Office later described the incident as “contained and secured.”

“The children are safe and are being evacuated from the school,” Augusta County Sheriff Donald Smith said, according to Rocktown Now.

Smith urged parents not to travel directly to the school, warning that responding buses and emergency vehicles needed unobstructed access to the area.

“All Westwood students, teachers, and staff are accounted for and are safe,” Waynesboro Public Schools subsequently announced.

Students Reunited With Their Families

Students were evacuated to a designated staging area before being reunited with their parents and guardians at Westminster Presbyterian Church on Mount Vernon Street.

Other Waynesboro schools were temporarily placed on lockdown as a precaution. Nearby Augusta County schools in the Wilson and Stuarts Draft areas also briefly operated under heightened security before returning to normal activities.

Shortly after noon, Waynesboro Public Schools announced that the lockdown affecting its schools had been lifted.

“We appreciate your cooperation, understanding and patience through this process,” the district said. “All students from Westwood have been released to their parents and guardians at this time.”

Officials said law enforcement officers would remain at school locations “out of an abundance of caution,” but emphasized again that all students, teachers and staff were safe.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives confirmed that agents were responding to what it called a “reported shooting incident.” Local outlets reported that one adult was injured, although authorities had not immediately identified that person or publicly explained the circumstances leading to the shooting.

WTVR reported, citing its Crime Insider sources, that the suspected shooter was also shot. The person’s condition was not immediately disclosed, and police had not released information about a possible motive.

Governor Monitoring Investigation

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger said she was monitoring the emergency as law enforcement worked to clear the school.

“My heart is with these young students, their parents and families, and the teachers and staff at the school,” Spanberger wrote on X. “Thank you to the first responders who are assisting at the scene.”

Authorities continued investigating Wednesday afternoon and asked the public to avoid the immediate area.

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

A mistrial remains possible if the panel cannot agree on the three murder charges.

Jurors deciding whether Lindsay Clancy was criminally responsible for killing her three young children told a Massachusetts judge Tuesday that they were deadlocked after more than 17 hours of deliberations.

“After many hours of deliberation, we are unable to come to a unanimous decision,” the jury said in a note read aloud by Plymouth County Superior Court Judge William Sullivan.

Sullivan did not declare a mistrial. He summoned the 12 jurors to the courtroom and instructed them to continue reviewing the evidence.

“I know that this was a long trial,” Sullivan told the panel. “I know there were over 80 witnesses. There were over 300 exhibits. But because of that, I’m going to ask you to go back out.”

The note came near the beginning of the fourth day of deliberations and marked the first time jurors formally reported an impasse.

Clancy, 36, watched the jurors from her wheelchair but showed little outward reaction.

Criminal Responsibility at Center of Case

Clancy does not dispute that she killed her children at the family’s home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, on Jan. 24, 2023.

Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and Callan, 8 months, were strangled with exercise bands in the basement while their father, Patrick Clancy, was away picking up takeout food and medication.

Lindsay Clancy then cut herself and jumped from a second story window. The fall left her paralyzed from the waist down.

She has pleaded not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility.

Her lawyers contend that postpartum psychosis, bipolar disorder, and an extensive regimen of psychiatric medications caused her to lose contact with reality. Prosecutors acknowledge that she was struggling with depression and other mental health problems but argue that she still understood her actions and knew they were wrong.

That distinction determines whether Clancy is convicted of murder or manslaughter — or found not criminally responsible because of mental illness.

Prosecutors Say Killings Were Planned

Prosecutors portrayed the killings as a deliberate sequence of decisions.

They argued that Clancy researched ways to die, arranged for her husband to leave the house, and calculated how long his errands would take.

She allegedly asked Patrick Clancy to pick up medication before directing him to a restaurant farther from the family’s home than their usual takeout location.

While he was gone, prosecutors said, she took each child into the basement and strangled them.

The prosecution’s experts testified that Clancy remained capable of understanding the illegality and wrongfulness of killing her children.

“She retained an awareness of the illegality of killing others, including her children,” forensic psychologist Kirk Heilbrun told the court.

Heilbrun said her thinking was influenced by depression and a desire to kill herself, but he concluded that she remained criminally responsible. Prosecutors argued that Clancy decided she did not want to leave her children behind after her death.

Another prosecution expert, forensic psychiatrist Gregory Saathoff, questioned Clancy’s account that she heard a commanding voice before the killings.

Saathoff testified that she had not reported hearing voices before that night and that the alleged hallucinations appeared to stop immediately afterward. He also identified what he characterized as inconsistencies in her descriptions of the attack.

Defense Says Clancy Was ‘Clearly Psychotic’

Defense attorney Kevin Reddington argued that Clancy was a loving mother whose severe mental illness overwhelmed her ability to recognize reality.

The defense said she repeatedly sought help before the killings, underwent a psychiatric hospitalization, and received numerous prescriptions as medical professionals struggled to treat her deteriorating condition.

The killings occurred less than three weeks after she was discharged from McLean Hospital.

Dr. Phillip Resnick, a forensic psychiatrist with extensive experience studying parents who kill their children, testified that Clancy was “clearly psychotic” on the day of the deaths.

“It was almost like she was a puppet and someone else was pulling the strings,” Resnick said.

Psychologist Paul Zeizel similarly concluded that Clancy “had no appreciation for the wrongfulness of her act.”

Reddington argued that a voice Clancy described as male commanded her to kill the children and herself. The defense contends that her actions cannot be understood as a rational plan because they were driven by delusion.

The conflicting expert testimony left jurors with sharply different explanations of the same conduct.

Jurors Requested Knife and Prescription Bottles

The jury began deliberations Thursday after hearing approximately five weeks of testimony.

Before reporting the deadlock, jurors requested several physical exhibits, including the knife Clancy used to cut herself and bags containing empty prescription bottles recovered from the home.

Those requests could indicate that jurors were examining the seriousness of her suicide attempt, the extent of her medication use or both. Courts caution against drawing firm conclusions from questions or evidence requests made during deliberations.

Clancy did not testify in her own defense.

Jurors instead heard from medical professionals, relatives, friends, first responders, and Patrick Clancy, who discovered the children after returning home.

Patrick has publicly forgiven his former wife. His testimony included details about her worsening mental health and his efforts to secure treatment for her before the killings.

What Happens if the Deadlock Continues

A jury must reach a unanimous decision on each charge.

If jurors continue to say that further discussion will not produce a verdict, Sullivan could deliver a special instruction known in Massachusetts as a Tuey-Rodriquez charge. The instruction asks jurors to reconsider their positions carefully without abandoning an honestly held belief merely to reach unanimity.

Such an instruction is sometimes called a “dynamite charge” because it is intended to break a deadlock.

The judge must avoid pressuring minority jurors to surrender their views or suggesting that the court prefers a particular outcome.

If continued deliberations fail, Sullivan could ultimately declare a mistrial. Prosecutors would then be permitted to try Clancy again because a hung jury does not trigger the Constitution’s protection against double jeopardy.

The jury could also agree on some counts while remaining divided on others, depending on the final instructions and the status of its deliberations.

Sullivan did not ask jurors to disclose their numerical division or identify which verdict they favored.

Verdict Options Carry Very Different Consequences

The jury is considering three counts of first-degree murder, as well as lesser offenses that include second-degree murder and manslaughter.

A first-degree murder conviction would carry a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole. Second-degree murder could also result in life imprisonment, though parole could eventually become available. Manslaughter would carry a substantially lower potential sentence.

If jurors find Clancy not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility, she would not necessarily be released.

Prosecutors could seek her commitment to a secure psychiatric facility. A judge could order continued confinement if medical evaluations determine that she remains mentally ill and poses a danger to herself or others.

Her confinement would then be based on her psychiatric condition and risk rather than a criminal sentence.

Case Has Become National Debate

The trial has attracted national attention because it forces jurors to confront one of the most difficult questions in criminal law: When does severe mental illness eliminate legal responsibility?

Postpartum psychosis is a rare but potentially catastrophic condition that can produce hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, confusion, and rapid changes in mood after childbirth.

Clancy’s supporters argue that her case exposes failures in maternal mental health care, including fragmented treatment, virtual appointments, and repeated medication changes.

Others contend that her documented planning and efforts to conceal the killings demonstrate that she remained capable of understanding what she was doing.

Those competing interpretations now appear to have divided the jury.

Tuesday’s note does not establish that the panel will remain deadlocked. Jurors frequently reach verdicts after a judge directs them to continue deliberations.

For now, however, the case remains unresolved — and the judge has made clear that more than 17 hours of deliberation are not yet enough to end it.

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.