Arlington reunification process following deadly school shooting slowgoing for parents
ARLINGTON — Students spent more time at Bowie High School and away from home than planned on Wednesday. About 10 minutes before school was out, Arlington Independent School District officials said there was a shooting on the grounds.
The 18-year-old victim died and police arrested a suspect who faces a charge of murder.
Meanwhile, safety protocol put the school on lockdown and delayed release. Parents had to go to the AISD athletic complex to pick up their children, but it was not a speedy process.
"This process is not easy. Ya'll need something else," one parent said.
According to AISD, students and staff were transported on buses at intervals of fifty. School officials said BHS has 2,250 students and several hundred staff members. Arlington police also advised that the process of clearing the school would be slow.
The line for parents stretched from the athletic complex beyond the performance arts center next door. Some parents had no idea when they would see their high schoolers or other kids.
Natalie Moreno has a kindergartner son her mother had to pick up.
"I wish I would know that because, you know like I have a son and he, you know, it would be nice to go see him and maybe come back," Moreno said.
Moreno said she was in the parking lot of Bowie High School when her 10th-grade daughter sent her a text about the shooting. She said the faces of other parents revealed shock, too.
"She told me that somebody had got shot, that there was shooting outside," Moreno recalled. "At this point, I already... I saw cops running all over the place with their lights on. I heard sirens. I saw helicopters in the sky, like, it looked really serious."
Katelyn Posey was in line, waiting to pick up a relative at the athletic complex. She said her sister-in-law had sent her distressing images from the school.
One image was an officer performing compression on the murder victim.
"I got a very scary notice," Posey said. "Actually, She sent me a picture of the kid lying on the floor."
CBS News Texas was not able to confirm an elevated image from inside the school was the victim. The third image shows a person detained, but police have not confirmed him as the suspect.
Parents may have been frustrated but became emotionally overcome when getting their children home.
One parent said she was out of cell phone battery power; she was emotionally spent and just wanted to get her daughter home.