Police probe death near city bridge

A man’s body was found on the Blackwater Creek Trail near the Rivermont Avenue bridge Wednesday morning, police said.

The bridge, a towering span over Blackwater Creek near the James River, has been the focal point of an ongoing debate over whether the city should install a high fence or other barriers to prevent suicide attempts.

Police on Wednesday would not provide any details of the incident, but Campbell County Schools Superintendent George Nolley said a teacher at Brookville High School was a suicide victim at the bridge.

Capt. Todd Swisher, of the Lynchburg Police Department, said police are treating the incident as a death investigation, pending autopsy results.

School officials learned of the death of Scott Wright, a social studies teacher and former track coach at the school, Wednesday morning. Principal Jim Whorley said he assembled teachers at about 1 p.m. and told them that Wright had died.

“I know the faculty was just stunned and shocked,” he said.

Before teachers met, officials from the school division’s central office came to Brookville, where they covered classes for staff called into the meeting and provided extra support.

During that meeting, teachers were given a statement to read to students about Wright’s death. Students were notified at about 1:15 p.m., Whorley said.

A letter was also sent home with students to inform parents. In the letter, parents are made aware of additional counselors at the school and are encouraged to talk to students about the incident. It also states information on funeral arrangements will be made available on the school’s Web site.

Whorley said there is plenty of support in place at the school for grieving staff and students. Guidance counselors and school psychologists from all over Campbell County have been called into Brookville.

“We’ll have them as long as we need them,” Whorley said. “We’ll gauge the mood of faculty and students.”

Wright had been a teacher at Brookville since 1997. Whorley said Wright, who was a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserves, took a year off from school for active duty about five or six years ago. Whorley said Wright served in an intelligence unit in Charlottesville.

This year Wright began teaching Advanced Placement government courses and had sponsored Brookville’s political science club.

“He was well thought of by faculty members and students,” Whorley said. “He was very dedicated to his subject and work.”

—Staff writer Carrie Sidener contributed.