Dallas school shooting: Student shot in leg, gunman in custody at Wilmer-Hutchins High School
DALLAS - Dallas police say a Wilmer-Hutchins High School student shot another student on campus in Southeast Dallas.
The shooting happened Friday inside a classroom even though the Dallas ISD school has metal detectors at its entrances.
Dallas ISD says a teacher intervened to prevent more potential injuries by directing the gunman out of the building.
A motive is still unclear or what led up to the shooting inside a classroom. We do know the gunman and the victim, both 17 years old, knew each other.
Law enforcement responded to the Dallas ISD school around 10:30 a.m. to a call of an active shooter on campus.
SKY 4 shows Dallas ISD police with backup from other law enforcement flooding the campus parking lot, where Dallas Fire-Rescue was positioned.
Fire trucks strategically parked to give some cover to first responders. Firefighters and paramedics wore helmets and protective vests.
Dallas ISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde said the shooting happened inside a classroom setting. The student who was shot in the leg is expected to be okay.
"Individuals in that classroom, and namely the adult in that room helped us avoid additional tragedy," she said.
Elizalde says it was the quick thinking of a teacher who was key in keeping other students away from potential danger.
"He was able to direct the student away from the campus so that he could take care of, first, the injured student and, second, to make sure that the alleged suspect did not enter into the rest of the school building," she said. "So that’s how I know how much was avoided."
While paramedics left with the wounded student, police were behind them.
The district police followed active shooter protocol with the suspect somewhere hiding. They enacted a plan to stop the harm and protect others.
"And that’s our goal is to make entry and find out where the shooter may be, protect the students," said Dallas ISD Police Chief Albert Martinez. "From there, you isolate what you have depending on how big the area is. It's a crime scene."
On the ground, active shooter response teams responded in SWAT-like gear with long guns.
Around 11 a.m., officers brought the frightful episode to a close near the football field.
"The student — the shooter — was captured back over in the stadium area," Martinez said. "Officers saw him and then contained, and then he surrendered."
The shooter's handgun has been recovered, but Dallas ISD is working to figure out how a gun was able to get inside the school.
"We have the cameras which we're going to utilize to determine exactly what was asked: How did this come about?" Martinez said.
A motive is still unknown, but there's no indication from police that the shooter was after more than just the one student.
The most pressing questions from parents: where were the campus security failures that allowed a teenager to bring a gun into the high school?
"They have metal detectors, wands, police, security. But yet a gun is in that school," said parent Chris Williams.
The district confirms that Wilmer-Hutchins High has metal detectors. Dallas ISD also has a new policy this year requiring clear backpacks.
"We know there are vulnerabilities. There are so many entrances to schools," Elizalde said. "So that is one of the areas the chief will be working with the school to identify those vulnerabilities."
A tenth grader told reporters some days the searches are not as thorough as they should be.
"They just open our backpack like this. They do like this, and they don’t check them all the way through," student Angelika Partida said.
Elizalde says she is thankful the victim will survive and believes the district will learn from this incident. She said she will refuse to normalize school shootings.
"This is absolutely unacceptable and unimaginable, but it is happening across schools in America," she said. "It cannot be the normal response. We must use this tragedy to learn something."
The district will now review surveillance video and see where the protocols can change.
Police remained on-site to ensure the school was secure.
Reunification Process After School 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.
The eager parents were quickly stopped by police officers who set up a perimeter around the school.
Parent Shareese Johnson got a call from her son when the school was in lockdown.
"Just kind of instantly put me in a fluster," she said.
Once police determined the threat had been neutralized, school buses were brought in, and parents were allowed to walk up to the school parking lot. There, they were met by school officials in red vests.
Parents were eventually allowed to walk up to the school where, three at a time, they were reunited with their kiddos.
"The cops had to escort you up, then fill out a card, wait again, then go in and be reunited with your child," said parent Chris Williams. "It was a short process, but it felt long as heck."
One by one, the students walked out, sharing their personal experiences in lockdown.
"We had to stay in there until they told us we could leave," said student Angelika Partida. "It was scary."
Johnson’s 16-year-old son, Legend, said it was a terrifying incident.
"We ran to the girl’s locker room, and we stayed at the girl’s locker room," he said.
"We’re excited, overjoyed, overwhelmed to put our hands on him to make sure he’s okay. It’s a relief," Johnson said.
It was a sentiment shared by every parent.
"A bullet can go anywhere," said parent Sharon Coleman. "A bullet don’t have no name on it, which is why hurried up and came up here."