Man who confronted Gloucester School Board facing charges for being armed

Photo byGloucester County Sheriff's Office

Four men are facing charges for bringing guns to the July 11th Gloucester County School Board meeting, which triggered the meeting to go into lockdown.

At approximately 7 p.m. that evening, five men walked into the Thomas Calhoun Walker Education Center where the meeting was being held. The uniformed Gloucester deputy who was on duty noticed that although the men entered as a group, once inside, they spread out and all sat apart from each other.

One of the men, Trevor Herrin of Williamsburg, came to the podium during the public comment session to accuse “one of three people” of slashing his tire when he attended the June school board meeting.

Herrin, who described himself as “an experienced political operative” and “a special operations soldier” told the school board members, “I would strongly recommend caution and reflection before engaging in anything like that especially with someone you don’t know, whose capabilities you don’t know.”

He continued, “I would advise you to make things right while you have the opportunity to do so before things get worse, instead of engaging in further violence.”

According to Gloucester County Sheriff’s Office, the deputy had already seen that Herrin had a knife affixed to the back of his belt “in a scout carry position, which is a position that provides the wearer easy access to withdraw the knife from the sheath.” But when Herrin finished talking and turned to leave the podium, the deputy saw the handle of a pistol on his right-hand side.

“The pistol was only visible as the male left the podium due to his body movements that raised the height of his shirt tail above his beltline briefly,” the police statement says.

Shortly after Herrin made his comments, the group of men left. Outside in the parking lot, the deputy from inside and other deputies approached the group. The men were told the deputy who saw the gun was investigating the carrying of a firearm on school property. During that conversation, the police found out that three of the other men were also carrying concealed guns.

Meanwhile, people still inside the meeting were told they could not leave until the okay came from outside.

On July 14, Gloucester County Sheriff’s Office announced that given the findings of its investigation charges had were filed against the four gun-toters.

Twenty-eight-year-old Herrin was charged with carrying a firearm on school property and unlawful possession of a concealed firearm. The latter charge was filed because he does not have a concealed carry permit, according to police.

Derek Coblentz, 32, of Prospect, Christopher Cordasco, 26, of Williamsburg, and Antonio Hernandez, 27, of Fisherville, were each charged with carrying a firearm on school property. They all have concealed carry permits.

The fifth man did not have a gun and has not been charged.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, the property where the meeting was held is owned by the school board and houses preschool classes and a daycare. There are numerous indications that it is school property, including, “school zone” lights with flashers along the road, signs with the school system’s logo, and a sign stating “smoking was not allowed on school property.”

Regarding Herrin’s tire, the Sheriff’s Office said the incident wasn’t reported until several days after it allegedly occurred. They checked the security footage and found no evidence that Herrin’s vehicle was tampered with, and he chose not to file a crime report.

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