Parents Swarm Texas High School During Lockdown
Parents and other family members were angry about the lack of information and the long delays in reuniting with their children.
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San Antonio, Texas – Law enforcement officers and Jefferson High School personnel struggled on Tuesday to control hundreds of parents who tried to come onto campus to retrieve their children after there were reports of shots being fired at the school.
The reports of gunfire – some of which came from students but were false – prompted the campus to go into lockdown. Parents then arrived at the school, attempting to get inside.
Videos posted online showed parents clashing with police officers, reports MySanAntonio.com. One video showed an officer throwing a man to the ground to detain him.
One man cut his arm trying to break a window so he could enter the locked-down campus, reports Express News.
Parents and family members gathered at the school before officials were ready to release the students. The families were angry about the lack of information and long delays in reuniting with their children.
The ordeal started around 1 p.m. when local police were notified of a possible shooting in a classroom. Jefferson High was immediately placed on lockdown, and officers searched the campus, determining a shooting did not happen. The district sent a voice message and email to families about 50 minutes later, reports Express News. The district plans to add text messaging to its emergency notification processes in the future.
In total, 87 San Antonio ISD and San Antonio PD officers responded to the incident and dealt with the many individuals who were highly emotional.
It appears no parents or family members were arrested.
Arrests were made, however, last month in El Mirage, Arizona, when three parents tried to get into an elementary school that was in lockdown after there were reports that a man was near the school who had a gun.
The reactions to the incidents in San Antonio and El Mirage appear to have been prompted by the mass school shooting that happened at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas in late May. Nineteen students and two teachers were killed during the active shooter attack, and delayed response by local law enforcement has been heavily criticized.
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About the Author
Robin Hattersley, Editor-in-Chief
Robin has been covering the security and campus law enforcement industries since 1998 and is a specialist in school, university and hospital security, public safety and emergency management, as well as emerging technologies and systems integration. She joined CS in 2005 and has authored award-winning editorial on campus law enforcement and security funding, officer recruitment and retention, access control, IP video, network integration, event management, crime trends, the Clery Act, Title IX compliance, sexual assault, dating abuse, emergency communications, incident management software and more. Robin has been featured on national and local media outlets and was formerly associate editor for the trade publication Security Sales & Integration. She obtained her undergraduate degree in history from California State University, Long Beach.
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As a parent, teacher and combat veteran I understand that fear grips you when this happens. However, parents and others need to not block the roads and entrances to schools when this happens, when they do emergency vehicles and police cannot do their jobs. Also, children with cell phones may think they are doing a service when they call home, but they are creating a system that is then clogged and people who are in direct communication with the school may not be able to communicate.