School safety, security, and violence prevention resource

The first quarter of the year is not yet over but we already have an incident involving a shooting in a school.  I think that this incident is the first for this year.  It happened at Central High in the west side of Detroit.  The Detroit Free Press reported the incident earlier this week:

Students and parents at Central High on Detroit’s west side described a scene of pandemonium Tuesday after three nonstudents were involved in a shooting inside the school.
At least one, a former student, reportedly sneaked into the building. Multiple gunshots rang out on the second floor at about 2:20 p.m., sending students fleeing out of the building.

Police have a 19-year-old and a 17-year-old in custody, Detroit Police spokesman James Tate said Tuesday. Their names were not released. According to Tate, a Central High student got into a fight with a 17-year-old nonstudent and called his brother, the 19-year-old, to come and help him. When the older brother, who managed to get into the secured school building, confronted the 17-year-old, they both pulled out guns. The 17-year-old shot the 19-year-old in the groin area, but the 19-year-old shot a nearby 18-year-old nonstudent in the leg.

The suspect was immediately found by the police – he was hiding in the attic of a nearby home.  That, at least, is a good thing.  However, this incident once again highlights the security – or lack thereof – in schools.  We cannot overlook the fact that the incident involved 3 teens who were NOT students of the school.

Now I am not saying that all violence and security problems arise from non-students, but in this case at least, the root of the problem was exactly that.  Questions such as “Would this have happened if the teens who were not students were not able to enter the school?” have been playing in my mind.  Would the incident have been prevented if there were enough security measures to keep outsiders from entering the school premises?

The perpetrator has already been charged.  No one was fatally hurt.  Some might say that all’s well that ends well.  I say that the incident serves as a reminder to everyone who is concerned about school safety.  The fight is far from over.  We need to continue to be vigilant and encourage others to be the same.  Otherwise, we just might hear of graver news in the near future.

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