Parents react to school shootings, violence: 'We're all scared'

SMITHFIELD, N.C. (WTVD) -- The shooting in Minneapolis happened right after a lockdown Wednesday at Smithfield-Selma High School.in Johnston County. It was in response to a weapon on campus. An airsoft BB gun was discovered thanks to the school's weapon detection system.

The Johnston County School District said the system worked as designed. It alerted staffers, the school went into lockdown, and deputies quickly detained the student. However, every time there is a school threat, parents tell ABC11 that it forces them to rethink what protection looks like during school hours.

"I think we're all scared," said Emily Johnson, a Wake County parent, describing how she felt hearing the breaking news from the Midwest and in her area.

After confirming there was no ongoing threat, the lockdown was lifted at Smithfield-Selma.

Weapon detection systems are something Johnson and other parents have been advocating for in Wake County.

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"Our teachers and our staff do an amazing job with the tools they're given, but they don't have all the tools they need," Johnson said. "There's no right answer to this, nothing's ever 100% foolproof, but whatever can be done, even if it prevents one incident like Smithfield, it's a win."

ABC 11 also spoke with juvenile justice leaders about overall youth violence.

"We saw juvenile crime went from 4% juvenile crime involved a firearm four years ago to last year, 14% of juvenile crime involve the firearm. Most of those guns are coming from their parents' own hand," said William Lassiter, Deputy Secretary for the Department of Public Safety Juvenile Justice. "We need the community parents to step up. Lock up your gun. You have a right to have that firearm, but you have a right of responsibility to make sure that that gun doesn't end up in a child's hands,"

Data from the Gun Violence Archive shows the number of guns found in Wake and Durham county schools during the past three years.

The Wake County Public School System reported eight guns found last year, while Durham Public Schools had three.

No one was injured in those incidents.

Lassiter said his department strives to discover the root causes of a child's choices, but it's a community effort to save our youth.

"We're trying to make sure that we get all those community partners so they're all singing off the same hymnal. Making sure that kids are making good decisions in those communities," said Lassiter.

Durham Public Schools told ABC11 that the district uses metal detectors at sporting events and, under extenuating circumstances, at schools.

ABC11's Jon Dowding contributed.