ARLINGTON, Texas — Faculty at Bowie High School expressed concern to the school's principal about safety and security protocols on campus weeks before a deadly shooting, a document provided by a teacher to WFAA indicated.
The document outlined notes of a conversation in mid-March between an advisory committee made up of staff members and the Arlington ISD school's principal, the teacher said. It included notes about metal detectors and IDs.
Two Bowie educators told WFAA the school did not enforce district rules requiring students to wear identification cards and routinely allowed students to get around required metal detector checks.
The teachers, who spoke on the condition their names not be published, said they had safety concerns before a shooting between students Wednesday on campus killed an 18-year-old student.
One teacher called security on campus "a joke" and said she believed a lax attitude toward safety protocols contributed to the violence that occurred outside the school building Wednesday.
An Arlington ISD spokesperson said the district is investigating the circumstances leading up to the shooting and takes staff comments seriously. Executive Director of Communications and Marketing Anita Foster also said the district has a "robust security plan."
"Our focus today is re-entry after a very traumatic experience," said Foster. "The investigation will continue for a while to get answers."
Arlington Police Officers responded to the campus off Highbank Drive around 2:50 Wednesday afternoon, a police spokesperson said. The shooting occurred between the school building and a so-called "portable" temporary unit that students and a teacher told WFAA houses the school's in-school suspension program.
Foster said the district has no indication the 17-year-old student suspect ever brought a weapon inside, thus never passing through required metal detector checks.
Officers detained the suspect near the school building and took him into custody shortly after the shooting, the press release said. He will face a murder charge, APD said.
APD said officers tried to save the 18-year-old student's life following the shooting, but he was pronounced dead at the hospital.
"The heartbreak is turning into frustration," said Steven Poole, the executive director of the United Educators Association. He said UEA spoke with multiple Bowie teachers in the hours following the shooting.
"They’re frustrated about student behaviors that are going unchecked that are turning more and more violent and unfortunately we’re seeing gun violence in our schools," he said.
Poole said the educators who have contacted UEA also expressed concerns about ID and metal detector rules not being followed. He said he's also heard those concerns raised by educators at other schools in other districts.
"Our society needs to do better, we need to demand more and expect more and say no to the violence we’re seeing in our schools," he said. "Can you guarantee student safety all the time? No. But you can do everything you can every single day to improve upon what you have been doing to ensure that safety."
Foster said students at Bowie will return to class on Monday, April 29 after this "extremely difficult and horrific situation."
"Our goal every day is student safety, student safety, student safety," she said.