On Thursday afternoon at 3:45, administrators at South Garner High School alerted Garner Police of a report of a student with a loaded firearm. Authorities detained 18-year-old Rico Owens, who school officials said was found with a stolen, loaded handgun and narcotics. Authorities said they did not believe there was any further threat to the school, and nobody was injured.
Owens was arrested and charged with possession of a firearm on educational property, possession of a stolen firearm, and possession of narcotics.
On Friday, in an e-mail to parents, Sanderson High acknowledged an altercation in the bus parking lot around 1 p.m. that involved at least five students and an adult trespasser. Some of the students used mace and a Taser during the altercation, which was broken up by school staff, a school resource officer, and Raleigh Police. EMS responded and treated students for minor injuries, though nobody was taken to the hospital.
"It is challenging. And I think as parents, it's even more challenging to put yourself in the space of having to trust the process," said Delon Fletcher, a parent of two Garner High students, regarding such reports.
Fletcher serves on the Safer Schools Parent Advisory Committee, working with the Department of Public Instruction.
"It's a little bit more of a focus on trying to identify different strategies and solutions that could be impactful for districts from a top-down perspective as it relates to school safety. Being able to help route folks to different resources, whether it's for students, for parents, technology," Fletcher said.
According to Everytown, there have been 160 incidents of gunfire on school grounds across the country this year resulting in 46 deaths and 106 injuries. In North Carolina, there have been seven cases with one death and two injuries.
"The entire time that (UNC) shooting was happening, we had no communication with (my friend's) brother as well as some of my friends that went to the school. And that was an extremely terrifying experience," said Anusha Yadav, who serves as a Group Leader for the Durham chapter of Students Demand Action.
Yadav has called on lawmakers to take stronger measures in addressing gun violence.
"We've seen North Carolina weaken their gun laws," said Yadav.
She specifically pointed to Senate Bill 41, a measure that became law following a veto override last year. The measure eliminated required background checks for handguns conducted by local sheriff's offices and launched a statewide firearm safe storage awareness initiative, among other points. Yadav was critical of its net result, though backs efforts to improve gun safety storage; Republican supporters of the bill say there have been significant updates to the national background check system, and it protects the rights of law-abiding gun owners.
"Promoting things like secure storage will allow us to reduce incidents of gun violence," said Yadav.
Looking for solutions
A separate bill last year garnered broader support. House Bill 605 required the creation of threat assessment teams in all public schools, and peer-to-peer support programs in public schools in grades six and above.
"I do believe that it is a holistic approach," said Fletcher, regarding attempts to tackle the issue.
"Schools can also take measures, like crisis prevention and ensuring there's mental health resources," Yadav added.
That includes stressing de-escalation techniques and encouraging open dialogue between students and community members.
"It's also needs to be exemplified in the community spaces where there are conversations with community leaders and making different platforms available for students to either discuss what it is that they're experiencing, allow themselves to be vulnerable enough to say, Hey, this is what I don't know, can you teach me how," said Fletcher.
In 2018, the General Assembly and DPI launched a School Safety Grant Program, which has provided more than $150 million toward grants for school resource officers, crisis services, training, safety equipment, and mental health support personnel.
There will be a new state superintendent following the November elections after incumbent Catherine Truitt lost her primary race to challenger Michele Morrow. Regardless of who ultimately holds the seat, Fletcher is hopeful lawmakers can work together.
"School safety is everybody's problem. It's not a Democratic issue or Republican or an independent issue. It is everybody's issue because the students, they are our future. So it's our priority to keep them safe. I'm looking forward to seeing more bipartisan activity, working across the aisles to help solve some of these challenges," said Fletcher.