The Norfolk SPCA shut its doors to the public for the rest of the day on Sunday after a person repeatedly returned to the property, banging on doors and windows and eventually triggering a full facility lockdown. Law enforcement formally trespassed the person during the incident. Staff inside the building were left shaken after the object they feared was a firearm turned out to be a massage gun.
According to a statement from the Norfolk SPCA, as reported by WAVY.com, an unidentified individual repeatedly returned to its property and behaved threateningly and disruptively toward staff throughout the morning. The organization said the person harassed employees, looked into vehicles parked on the property, banged on facility windows and doors, and attempted to enter the building. The SPCA said law enforcement formally trespassed the individual during the incident, after the person had returned.
A Morning of Repeated Police Calls
Norfolk police officers were first called at about 9:20 a.m. Sunday in response to a reported trespasser pulling on the main door, per the SPCA's account. The individual had left the premises after staff initially made contact, only to return shortly afterward, prompting officers to be contacted a second time. The person reportedly displayed increasingly aggressive and erratic behavior, including yelling and using profanity, before departing again ahead of officers' arrival — only to come back once more, leading to a third call to law enforcement.
At one point during the encounter, staff reported that what appeared to be a firearm fell from the individual's bag, and employees said they feared for their personal safety. Officers later determined the object was a massage gun rather than a firearm, the same WAVY.com report notes. Norfolk SPCA employees were inside the building throughout the ordeal, and the organization said they were shaken and fearful after what it called a serious security incident.
Facility Lockdown and an Unexpected Closure
Once the situation escalated, the Norfolk SPCA initiated a full facility lockdown and closed to the public for the remainder of the day. The shelter acknowledged that the unexpected closure may have affected community members who had planned to visit. A separate account from 13News Now similarly described the shutdown as following repeated security incidents involving a disruptive person that prompted police involvement and left staff shaken.
The SPCA said it plans to share operational and reopening updates through its official communication channels when information becomes available. The organization also said it will evaluate appropriate next steps to ensure a safe environment for both staff and visitors going forward.
Shelter Has Pushed Back on Mistreatment of Staff Before
This is not the first time the Norfolk SPCA has publicly addressed hostility directed at its employees. In an earlier video statement, the shelter said members of its staff had been verbally abused and declared that it would no longer tolerate such treatment, underscoring a pattern the organization says it is trying to confront.
