Virginia Lawmakers Pass College Threat Assessment Bill After Multiple Shootings

The University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va., at night on Feb 19, 2017. Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia in 1819. Felix Lipov/Shutterstock

Both chambers of Virginia’s General Assembly on Feb. 13 voted to pass a bill outlining how public universities and colleges should respond to individuals who pose a dangerous threat on campus in an effort to prevent future violence.

The bill, known as HB1916, was introduced in January by Del. Amanda Batten (R-James City) who says it will “better protect our students, and staff and prevent violent incidents.”

Specifically, it will require threat assessment teams at public institutions of higher education to obtain the available criminal and health records for “individuals posing a significant threat of violence” and also require those teams to notify law enforcement, the campus police department, and the local attorney of the Commonwealth within 24 hours of making such a preliminary determination and disclose information on the particular threats from that individual, according to the bill.

Each member of the threat assessment team will be required to complete eight hours of initial training within 12 months of appointment to the threat assessment team and two hours of threat assessment training each academic year thereafter.

Charlottesville police secure a crime scene of an overnight shooting at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va, on Nov. 14, 2022, Steve Helber/AP Photo

Training For Threat Assessment Teams

That training will be conducted by the Department of Criminal Justice Services or an independent entity approved by the Department, as per the bill.

The teams will be comprised of law enforcement members, mental health professionals, representatives of student affairs and human resources, as well as college or university counsel, if available.

“The threat assessment team may also invite representatives from campus to participate in individual cases,” the bill states. 

The bill will also require that the state’s secretary of education and secretary of public safety and homeland security establish a task force to determine “best practices” and procedures for the threat assessment teams at the public Universities and colleges to provide legislative recommendations “on the appropriate qualifications of members of such threat assessment.”

Under the bill, the task force will be required to submit its findings to the Governor and Chairmen of the House Committee for Courts of Justice, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, the House Committee on Education, and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by no later than Dec. 1, 2023.

The bill unanimously passed the House and Senate and now heads to Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, to be signed into law.

Sgt Jamie Huling of the Newport News Police Department greets students as they return to Richneck Elementary in Newport News, Va., on Jan. 30, 2023. Billy Schuerman/The Virginian-Pilot via AP

Multiple Shootings at Virginia Schools

Support for the legislation comes shortly after a teacher at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, was critically injured on Jan, 6 when a 6-year-old student brought a gun into a classroom and intentionally fired the weapon at her.

Abby Zwerner, 25, who was teaching her first-grade class at the time of the incident, was hospitalized for nearly two weeks but is now recovering at home. The school has since reopened with increased security.

Zwerner has filed a lawsuit against the school district claiming that the school administration failed to respond to multiple warnings that the boy had a gun with him at school.

Earlier in November, three students were killed and two more were injured in a shooting at The University Of Virginia (UVA) in Charlottesville after fellow student Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., a former football player for the university, opened fire.

He was arrested the following day following a large-scale manhunt and charged with three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of using a handgun in the commission of a felony.

UVA spokesperson Brian Coy later told local news outlets that student affairs at the University were in the process of taking disciplinary action against Jones Jr. on October 27 after two incidents related to firearms, but their report was never transmitted to the University Judiciary Committee.

A preliminary hearing for Jones Jr. has been scheduled for March 30.