Following the massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, academic institutions across the United States have hired additional security personnel and restricted visitors as they grapple with a new wave of copycat threats.
For some family members and educators, it all adds to the unease after the deadliest school attack in the United States since the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Jake Green, 34, of Los Alamos, New Mexico, was startled when he saw a plainclothes police officer the first time he took his 7-year-old daughter to class on Friday morning. Green grew up in Colorado, not far from where two Columbine High School students shot 12 classmates and a teacher to death in 1999. Green remembers attending memorials and vigils as a fifth grader, but remains undecided about having a police officer at your daughter’s school be the best.
“In a way, I don’t really feel safer with a police officer around,” Green said. “Seeing the police there really made it seem like the worst possible scenario was even more possible today.”
In El Paso, Texas, where a gunman killed 23 people in a racist attack on Hispanics at a Walmart, schools are on alert. The El Paso Independent School District has already come across some reports of threats that turned out to be false. It was about “students joking around or overly sensitive parents,” said Gustavo Reveles Acosta, a district spokesman.
“Our community is still hurt by that incident,” he said. “He hit us really hard.”
The district, which has its own police department, has also stepped up patrols at all 85 campuses. Agents have been withdrawn from monitoring and transit tasks, among others. Schools have already upgraded their surveillance camera systems. Visitors must ring a bell and present identification before entering.
The district has focused on caring for the mental health of teachers and students. A team of advisors has been visiting all the schools to talk about the Uvalde shooting. People have also been encouraged to speak privately about any distress.
Mia Baucom, a 15-year-old high school student from Fort Worth, Texas, said she found it surreal to think that the Uvalde massacre happened in her home state. She also reminded him of a lockdown at her school a couple of months ago due to a shooting.
“I’m a little bit more stressed about it just because of this fear: What if that had happened at my school?” said Baucom, whose last day of school was Thursday. “Let’s say they send us more police. Most likely that’s not going to stop people from freaking out and just starting shooting at schools.”
Following Tuesday’s shooting in which 19 students and two teachers were killed, schools in several states have beefed up police presence, including Connecticut, Michigan and New York.
In Buffalo, New York, where a white gunman killed 10 people in a racist attack at a supermarket on May 14, the largest school district announced new safety rules that went into effect immediately. Any visitors—parents, siblings, vendors—must call ahead for clearance. No exceptions will be made. They may be subject to metal detector inspection, and doors will remain locked at all times.
In Jacksonville, Florida, the Duval County Public Schools chief of school police has banned backpacks or large tote bags from all schools through Friday, the last day of school. Smaller carry-on bags are allowed through, but may be searched.
A false threat against a high school forced a Texas school district 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Uvalde to end the school year a week early. The Kingsville Independent School District announced Friday that it would be the last day of school. But students will not be penalized for the fact that the year ended prematurely.
“In the face of the tragedy in Uvalde, there has been an enormous amount of stress and trauma. Unfortunately, further stress and trauma are added with ‘copycat threats’ beginning to circulate, such as the one sent to Gillett (High School) today,” supervisor Dr. Cissy Reynolds Perez said in a statement released today. on the district website.
It’s clear faculty and students across the country are on edge after reports of gun sightings on campuses have surfaced in recent days.
Two schools in the Seattle metro area ordered lockdowns Wednesday morning, and police eventually recovered an air pistol. The closure of those Everett, Washington schools was then lifted.
Two people were arrested Thursday after a Denver high school emergency closed its facilities. Police found a paintball gun, but no firearm. Classes have been canceled anyway.