FAIRFAX, Va. — A West Potomac High School student was seriously injured in a stabbing at school just weeks after Fairfax County Public Schools announced it was ramping up its safety efforts by launching a weapons detection pilot program. However, during a news conference Wednesday to inform the public about the stabbing, District officials said West Potomac did not yet have a weapons detection device.

The school district’s plan was to install 15 “Open Gate” weapons detection devices at randomly selected high schools. The Office of Safety and Security would be in charge of choosing at least one school per week for the screenings, and the devices would remain at each site for several days. 

The technology is similar to the weapons detection systems used at concerts and sporting events.

FCPS Superintendent Dr. Michelle Reid told parents Wednesday that West Potomac was not one of the schools chosen for the pilot program.

“We’re currently in the middle of a pilot stretcher this spring and they were not in place at this school this morning, but they were at another school in Fairfax County,” Reid said. 

When asked whether the detectors would have caught the knife, Reid said, it would have depended on the setting used. 

“There are a variety of settings and I don’t have information on the knife or the type of knife this time to correctly answer that,” Reid said. 

Parents were outraged by what they call a lack of action and communication on the school’s part. One mother told WUSA9 her son knew the student involved in the incident and she wants to know why there were no teachers around when the stabbing occurred.

“What are they going to do now in order for this not to continue to happen?” Aellene Fernandez asked. “I need actions. I need them to tell me my kid will come to school tomorrow and he’s going to be safe. I don’t know if they have to put checkpoints. I don’t know, but they need to do something.” 

District officials wouldn’t say if the weapon was in school before the incident or if it was brought in Wednesday morning. 

School officials said the pilot will run through the end of the 2025 school year, but pending staffing and funding, the program could be extended through the next school year.

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