Bag wasn't checked properly when student brought gun through Wilmer-Hutchins metal detectors, trustee says
DALLAS - Dallas ISD cited a vague and unspecified failure to strictly follow safety protocols as the reason why a student allegedly able to bring a gun on the campus of Wilmer-Hutchins High School.
Police say that student shot and injured another student inside the school earlier this month. The suspect got past the metal detector at the school.
The district won't say whether it was properly staffed. But officials did say one of the safety measures they took after the shooting was making sure enough people were on hand for student arrivals and dismissals.
DISD Trustee Maxie Johnson told FOX 4 he just found out the new information Thursday night at the school board meeting. He says the administration was working through so many different stories, and they wanted to provide a thorough investigation.
Two weeks after a shooting inside Wilmer-Hutchins High School, the school trustee tells FOX 4 that 17-year-old Ja’kerian Rhodes-Ewing’s bag wasn’t correctly checked by staff.
Ja'kerian Rhodes-Ewing (Dallas PD)
The district requires clear backpacks. Wilmer-Hutchins has metal detectors.
Trustee Johnson told FOX 4 on Friday that the metal detectors worked on April 12, and the failure came from staff failing to follow certain protocols.
"The metal detectors worked. Everything worked correctly," he said. "It wasn’t a malfunction of the machines, anything. This is simply the safety protocol that the board of trustees and the administration have implemented was not followed on the campus."
The district released a statement on Friday saying an investigation revealed the handgun was brought into the school during the late entry process during which "several safety protocols were not strictly followed."
Later in the school day, police say the 17-year-old shot another student in the leg.
It’s still unknown how the suspect allegedly got the gun.
In the days following the shooting, Dallas ISD said new safety measures were added but didn’t go into detail.
Friday, DISD said it increased personnel during arrival and dismissal districtwide. Plus, it’s retraining all staff on backpack searches, wands and metal detectors.
Johnson says he understands why parents are still frustrated.
"They have every right to be angry. They have every right to express how they feel," he said. "A gun got into one of our schools. It shocked all of us."
Thursday evening, some parents confronted the school board.
One parent said she reported to Wilmer-Hutchins administration that students were freely walking in and not enough people were manning the metal detectors.
"Y’all are letting the kids go through the metal detectors when it’s going off. It’s no officers there checking bags," the parent said.
Thursday night, some speakers from the American Federation of Teachers brought up their anger that some teachers at Wilmer-Hutchins were put on administrative leave because they were part of the walkout at the high school in the days following the shooting.
The district has not commented on that issue.
Rhodes-Ewing is charged with assault with a deadly weapon and the unlawful carrying of a weapon into a prohibited place.