In the past two weeks, shootings have rocked three North Texas school communities.
None of the incidents evolved into mass shootings of the kind the nation has become familiar with. But they have shaken students' sense of security and raised questions about what more leaders can do to keep children safe.
“It's a chilling horror,” said Danielle Curtis, a Dallas mother whose daughter attended Wilmer Hutchins High School on April 12 when one student shot and killed another in a classroom. Ta.
After a gunman killed 10 people at Santa Fe High School in 2018, Texas leaders took steps to make schools safer. They took similar action after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde.
Despite numerous new security mandates, violence continues to hit campuses, and schools struggle with their role as battlegrounds for society's intractable battles. North Texas, like many regions, struggles with a gun epidemic, gang retaliation, and a lack of mental health resources.
“We cannot separate our schools from our communities,” said Dallas ISD Board of Education President Justin Henry.
A national nonprofit group has tracked at least 63 shootings on school grounds this year. This is in addition to his more than 500 reported cases over the past three years. Shootings that don't make national news or make a city's name synonymous with tragedy still leave deep scars.
On Wednesday, 18-year-old Etavion Burns was shot multiple times and killed by another student outside James Bowie High School in Arlington. Less than two weeks later, a student was shot and injured inside a classroom at Wilmar Hutchins High School in southeast Oak Cliff.
“We have to stop acting like gun violence in schools is normal,” Dallas ISD graduate Judith Juarez told the school board Thursday night.
Around the same time Juarez spoke, news began trickling in about another shooting near the DISD campus.
A Roosevelt High School employee was driving two football players home when two students were injured in an off-campus drive-by shooting. Although it was after school, staff members rushed to assist and drove the students back to Roosevelt.
The school district canceled classes at that campus Friday after receiving information about a safety threat. Officials are discussing how to safely reopen.
Meanwhile, DISD and nearby Garland School District officials announced increased security in response to recent shootings. Garland students will undergo daily unannounced inspections with walk-through metal detectors, exterior door inspections, more duty rooms for faculty and staff, and more safety lessons in classes, including conflict resolution, officials said. said in a statement to the community.
Former Dallas ISD and city police leader Craig Miller drew a distinction between the recent violence in North Texas and the mass casualties at Robb Elementary School, Parkland and Sandy Hook.
He said the local shooting appeared to be targeted. Although details have not been released, Miller speculated that the shooting may have been related to a personal conflict between students.
“I don't know the answer,” Miller said. “These are deep-rooted emotional issues that are going on in students' lives off campus that just happen to spill over onto campus.”
Changes after Uvalde
David Liedman, a researcher who created the K-12 School Shooting Database that tracks gun violence on campuses, said recent incidents demonstrate how complicated keeping schools safe can be, and it's difficult to completely close buildings. He said it shows how unrealistic it is to be safe.
“Schools are places where people come in and out of buildings throughout the day,” he said. “We could fortify the main building with this. We could add bulletproof windows, but the reality is, it's not a supermax prison.”
Much of the Texas Legislature's actions regarding school safety focused on ways to “harden” campuses. They barely mention state gun laws.
Uvalde parents continue to press Congress to raise the minimum age to purchase certain semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21.
Gov. Greg Abbott said such laws are unconstitutional.
Instead, lawmakers required all public schools in Texas to have at least one armed staff member on campus and added some funding to school safety allocations.
Miller warned that having police on campus is not enough. School resource officers need to build trusting relationships with students so that teens feel comfortable bringing the tip.
“If there's a beef trade going on off campus, you want your kids to have a relationship with that police officer,” Miller said. “That information is so important. … We need kids to come forward and tell us what's going on so we can help them.”
Administrators say a lack of funding and staffing makes it difficult for the district to comply with the armed guard mandate. Congress did not provide anywhere near the level of funding school leaders said was needed for safety measures.
“If you thought lawmakers checked the boxes on school safety last legislative session, you should be appalled at how low the bar is,” said Nicole Hill, a Texas AFT spokeswoman. Ta. “They pumped an additional 28 cents per student into the School Safety Fund and required cash-strapped school districts to hire armed security guards on every campus. That extra cent doesn't even come close to covering costs. ”
Lawmakers also called on schools to install silent panic buttons in all classrooms to immediately alert law enforcement of emergencies.
Certain school district employees must receive mental health training to recognize and support students in crisis that may threaten school safety.
Meanwhile, the North Texas region is working to strengthen its facilities on its own.
They are paying for bulletproof window film and building a secure vestibule that visitors are supposed to pass through to enter campus. Some districts, such as Cedar Hill, will have bond elections on the May 4 ballot to help fund these efforts.
Many school districts, including Dallas, have installed metal detectors in middle and high schools. DISD students use clear backpacks as a precaution.
In a statement late Friday regarding Wilmer Hutchins, DISD officials said their investigation determined that “the handgun was brought into the school during a late admissions process where several safety protocols were not strictly followed.” He said it was found. The district did not provide details.
What happened in Dallas and Arlington?
An investigation into what happened during each of the recent events is ongoing.
Police said Bowie received a report of shots fired near a mobile building on campus shortly before 3 p.m. A school resource officer found Etavion Burns lying unresponsive on the ground. Officials said officers attempted “lifesaving measures” until paramedics arrived.
Arlington Police Chief Al Jones said at a news conference that Barnes was shot “up to five or six times.” The man was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Jones said.
Authorities were still trying to determine a motive, but police believe a 17-year-old boy targeted Barnes. Police said both teens were students.
The shooting of Wilmer Hutchins occurred inside a classroom. The victim was hit in the upper thigh, but police say his injuries are not life-threatening.
The following Monday, students protested, saying they felt unsafe on campus and wanted school leaders to do more to protect them.
Multiple teens expressed frustration that the school's metal detectors were not used regularly and that the school did not consistently enforce the clear bag policy.
“We have all-metal detectors, we have wands, and now they finally want to use it. [them] After something bad happened,” said Yanery Gamino, a student who participated in the strike.
That anger spilled over into Thursday's DISD school board meeting. Curtis, the parent of Wilmer Hutchins, described the horror of receiving emails from his child about the shooting.
“We need answers,” she told the trustees. “What security measures were added? Why didn't anyone contact the parents? … If this were your child, what would you expect?
Her daughter, Aspen, 16, said she wants the school district to be held accountable for not having adequate security and thorough bag searches.
“Schools should be safe havens,” Aspen said.
DISD officials agreed in a statement Friday that it is something they must address.
“The school district has implemented several initiatives, including increased staffing for arrival and dismissal, comprehensive retraining of all staff on backpack searches, canes, and metal detectors, and revised schedules to increase the number of staff available to monitor students on campus.” We have implemented immediate changes across the board.”
How can we make schools safer?
The same questions come up every time a gun is fired on campus. How can we prevent this from happening again?
Texas AFT's Hill said educators support a variety of strategies. They want enforceable safe firearms storage laws, “red flag” laws, and stronger background checks for weapons purchases.
“Full funding for mental health services and supports in Texas public schools, where there is a devastating shortage of nurses, counselors, social workers, psychologists and other critical positions,” she demanded.
Readman said solutions must come from communities and families.
“Teenagers have access to weapons that they cannot legally purchase,” he says. “That means at some point there was a legal gun owner who did not secure this weapon.”
In addition to storing guns safely, the researchers encouraged adults to teach teens more strategies for dealing with conflict resolution and invest more in crisis intervention.
Reidman said students need to understand that when they use guns to resolve conflicts, “not only are they ending other people's lives, but they are also ending their own lives.” said.
Mr. Reidman said dallas morning news At an event commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Columbine shooting, he spoke about his ideas for reducing gun violence. In the more than two decades since that tragedy, the country has invested billions of dollars to strengthen schools.
“After 25 years of not doing well, now is a really good time to think about whether we need to completely change our perspective,” Reidman said.
Jamie Landers, Kelly Smith, Julia James and Lana Ferguson contributed to this article.
The DMN Education Lab deepens our coverage and conversations about pressing education issues that matter to the future of North Texas.
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