--- description: An armed teen held a teacher and several students hostage at a West Virginia high school on Tuesday before surrendering, police said. title: Armed Teen Holds Classroom Hostage at W.V. High School image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte88def5599a96aaf/698860e13c1639c78b4596cd/philip-barbour-high-school-pistol-hostage-west-virginia.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Armed Teen Holds Classroom Hostage at West Virginia High School  by [Jack Linshi](/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 25, 2015 11:30 PM CUT  Parents of children from Philip Barbour High School in Philippi, W.Va., walk to the school to meet up with their children that were evacuated after a "hostage-like" situation occurred in the school on Aug. 25, 2015. Parents of children from Philip Barbour High School in Philippi, W.Va., walk to the school to meet up with their children that were evacuated after a "hostage-like" situation occurred in the school on Aug. 25, 2015.Ben Queen—AP  by [Jack Linshi](/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 25, 2015 11:30 PM CUT A 14-year-old boy armed with a pistol held a classroom hostage on Tuesday at a West Virginia high school, authorities said, before releasing his captives and surrendering to police without incident. Police said the boy, who was not named, took 27 students and a teacher hostage around 1:30 p.m. at Philip Barbour High School in the town of Philippi, [reports ABC-affiliate WCHS-TV.](http://www.wchstv.com/news/features/eyewitness-news/stories/Hostage-Situation-Reported-At-Philip-Barbour-High-School-190381.shtml#.Vdz2NSTDfWE "undefined") The school was placed on lockdown while teachers and administrators evacuated, counted and sent home all other students. The suspect agreed to release all hostages following initial negotiations with police, authorities said. After further negotiations, the suspect surrendered to police at 3:30 p.m. and was taken to a local hospital for evaluation. No one was hurt in the incident, police said. Authorities are continuing to investigate the suspect’s motive. \[[WCHS](http://www.wchstv.com/news/features/eyewitness-news/stories/Hostage-Situation-Reported-At-Philip-Barbour-High-School-190381.shtml#.Vdz2NSTDfWE "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4010767/west-virginia-high-school-hostage/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4010767/west-virginia-high-school-hostage/"},"headline":"Armed Teen Holds Classroom Hostage at West Virginia High School","datePublished":"2015-08-25T23:30:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:26:16.191Z","description":"No injuries were reported, police said","url":"https://time.com/4010767/west-virginia-high-school-hostage/","keywords":["West Virginia","Crime","States","Guns"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte88def5599a96aaf/698860e13c1639c78b4596cd/philip-barbour-high-school-pistol-hostage-west-virginia.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jack Linshi","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte88def5599a96aaf/698860e13c1639c78b4596cd/philip-barbour-high-school-pistol-hostage-west-virginia.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"High School Gun Evacuation","caption":"High School Gun Evacuation","creditText":"Ben Queen—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4010767/west-virginia-high-school-hostage/","name":"Armed Teen Holds Classroom Hostage at West Virginia High School"}}]}] ```