Dallas, TX
School safety expert on vulnerabilities that could have allowed shooting at Wilmer-Hutchins High
DALLAS – Police still have not released the identity of the 17-year-old shooter who injured a fellow student at Wilmer-Hutchins High School in Dallas.
The shooting forced the southeast Dallas school into lockdown on Friday.
Dallas police say around 10:30 a.m., a 17-year-old student shot another student in the leg.
A teacher intervened to get the suspect away from the school building and police took him into custody by the football field about 30 minutes later.
“In this day in age when we’ve had to deal with mass shootings, even in this state, massacres if you will. To be able to be on top of that and get that suspect into custody quickly means everything,” said Mo Canady, a former school resource officer and the current executive director for the National Association of School Resource Officers.
The association trains SROs for active shooter situations and how to work with adolescents on a daily basis.
“We can’t secure a school building the same way we secure an airport. That’s apples and oranges,” said Canady.
The shooter’s handgun was recovered, but Dallas ISD is still figuring out how a gun got into the school in the first place.
The high school has metal detectors and the district has a new policy this year that requires students to have a clear backpack.
“That doesn’t solve the problem. It may help, but it doesn’t solve the problem,” said Canady. “A student can still certainly wrap something up in their gym clothes. They can still conceal something in there.”
Canady says perimeter security is one vulnerability school campuses in terms of safety.
“It’s not just making sure they’re in working order, but it’s having a culture and climate in a school everyone agrees, we’re not going to prop doors, we’re not going to open doors for strangers, for people we don’t know, into the school. Those become the weak points,” he said.
Another is the relationship between the educators, students and parents.
“One of the second vulnerabilities is the issue of culture and climate and that goes to relationships and the sharing of information, which makes all the difference in the world,” Canady said.
The motive is still unknown, but police say there’s no indication that the shooter was after more than just the one student.
Parents wait to be reunited with kids after shooting
Emotions were running high Friday morning as scared parents rushed to the school after getting word a student had been shot in the leg by another student inside a classroom.
Parents gathered in long lines outside the school Friday after receiving word that there was an active shooter at the high school.
One by one, they were reunited with their children.
“The best thing that can happen again is school rallies, the parents rally around the school and we all as a community try to put our best foot forward and what is our next best step to do to keep this from happening again,” said Canady.
The student who was shot is expected to recover from his injuries.
Dallas ISD told us school will resume on Monday with extra police presence.
There will also be mental health professionals at the school for anyone in need.