Suffolk School Board reports burglary incident at Kilby Shores Elem.

SUFFOLK, Va. — Thursday’s Suffolk School Board meeting featured some tense moments from residents who expressed concern about the lack of communication from the superintendent and school board president regarding a recent incident in which an intruder entered Kilby Shore Elementary School.

It was about a month ago, on June 14, the last day of school for students in Suffolk.

Watch: Suffolk school administrators fail to answer News 3 questions about school intruder video

School administrators in Suffolk do not answer News 3’s questions about the burglar’s video

Police say the intruder was not armed and no one was injured. However, a video of the incident – first obtained by News 3 – sheds light on security lapses at the school.

Watch: Video shows man entering a Suffolk school and barricading himself in the bathroom with students

Intruder enters Suffolk school and barricades himself and students in bathroom

The video shows a staff member holding a door open for students to go outside when a man comes running from the back of the school and slips in while the door is still open. He closes the door and runs into a girls’ restroom where two students are inside. The video shows that eight minutes passed before an officer arrived to get the man out.

Vontrail Thorpe, the man allegedly seen in the video, is now facing charges of trespassing and kidnapping.

Watch: Parents react to intruder at Suffolk primary school on last day of school

Parents react to intruder at Suffolk primary school on last day of school

On Thursday afternoon, just hours before the meeting, News 3’s John Hood showed the video to educators who believe changes need to be made before the start of the next school year.

“We have drills for everything. We have school shooting drills, we have fire drills. We do all of those things, but we don’t have a burglary drill. We may treat that similarly to someone entering the building or something, but I think we were blind to that happening, and I think that brought to light that this is one thing we need to add to that list,” said Suffolk teacher Sarah Hutzler.

Since the June 14 incident, Superintendent Dr. John Gordon III and the school board have refused to answer our questions about plans to fix the security vulnerabilities at Kilby Shores shown in the video.

Before Thursday’s meeting, News 3’s Jay Greene tried to ask Dr. Gordon if anyone had broken into the school and what was being done to improve security, but he did not answer questions and said to wait and see what he had to say in the meeting.

In the superintendent’s report from the board meeting, Dr. Gordon addressed the events at Kilby Shores, but spent a lot of time criticizing News 3 for attempting to investigate the incidents.

Dr. Gordon said the district and board would not discuss safety measures publicly.

“I don’t understand why we are now expected to communicate what new safety measures have been introduced,” said Dr Gordon.

However, Dr Gordon said police had searched the Kilby Shores premises to determine how the intruder gained access.

Brandon Randleman, a citizen volunteer on the School Safety Audit Committee, said communication with the board following the incident was not productive.

“I’m disappointed in the leadership of the school board. And I’m disappointed in the leadership of the Suffolk Public Schools administration. I’ve worked with these individuals in the past,” Randleman told News 3’s Jay Greene. “What bothers me most is that when I asked them about student safety and the safety measures that need to be taken, I suddenly got silence. Some of them reprimanded me.”

Stay with News 3 for updates.