Kimball High School Students Call For Better Security
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - A group of students held a protest outside of Kimball High School in Dallas on Friday morning to call for better safety on their campus. Earlier this week, a student coming to school for a parent-teacher conference brought a small pistol through the metal detector and accidentally shot himself.
According to police in the Dallas Independent School District, the 15-year-old student had the small gun in his front pocket. It went off, and the bullet struck the teen in the hand and leg. His injuries were serious, but not life threatening.
When asked how a loaded gun was allowed into the building, district officials cited a "breach in security." The student showed up at the school after classes had begun. He arrived with his mother for an unplanned meeting with a teacher. However, while the metal detector was working properly, it was not screening for weapons at that time.
The school was briefly locked down and students were told to "shelter in place" until the campus was secured. It is not known why the teen had a loaded gun in the first place.
When word of the shooting spread, many parents went to the school worried about their children. "This changes a lot of things for a lot of parents," said mother Eva Alejandro. "Really, how safe are our children?"
Students took action on Friday morning, staging a peaceful protest outside of the campus. A group of about 20 teens walked to a grassy area near the school to show that they are on edge, and do not feel safe inside of the building. "We should be worried about losing our lives," said student Briana Perez. "We're not going to have another day to see if we get shot. We're not going to have another day to say, 'I love you, dad,' 'I love you, mom.' We're not going to have that day."
The students were concerned that prom or graduation might be taken away from them for protesting. Perez said, "Why should we worry about going to prom or graduation when we should be worried about our safety? How are we going to walk the stage when we are in a casket?"
School officials said that the protesting teens will not face any consequences. "We feel our schools are safe," stated Andre Riley of the DISD. "We will continue to take every step to make sure they know that we're looking out for their best interests." The district has pledged to improve campus security districtwide, but those changes will not begin until next school year.