GREENSBORO, N.C. (WAVY) — A Norfolk man was arrested Monday in Greensboro after entering a high school with guns and ammunition and charged with attempted first degree murder. Steve Spence, 29, was also named in a fugitive warrant from Virginia Beach for domestic assault.
Police in Greensboro arrested him at Smith High School after he arrived at lunchtime in the school’s cafeteria. Investigators say he threatened to kill at least two people.
“(Spence) brandished a handgun and raised his shirt to show a handgun,” said Wayne Scott, Greensboro Chief of Police.
Police say Spence had two loaded handguns with him, loaded magazines in his pockets, and at least eight boxes of ammunition in a backpack.
A school resource officer and other officers were able to arrest Spence without a shot being fired.
Investigators said Spence fled to North Carolina to carry out a “hit list” after brutally beating his girlfriend in the 4700 block of Alicia Drive in Virginia Beach, causing her to be hospitalized for her injuries.
Spence faces charges of domestic assault, strangulation and auto theft in connection with the Virginia Beach case.
Neighbors say he lived in a home on Ethel Avenue in Norfolk with his sister and father, and they have seen him with a gun in a holster in the past.
Spence graduated from Maury High School and went to East Carolina University on a football scholarship. He has been an assistant football coach for Norview and Oscar Smith High schools.
Spence’s social media says he had a financial services company. His recent posts, including on Thanksgiving, have been upbeat and positive. After the news broke, friends were wondering what happened and posting words of support.
Spence is jailed in North Carolina on a $2 million bond. It’s unclear how and when he would return to Virginia Beach to face the local charges.
