Four in Your Corner is looking into what schools in Southwest Florida are doing to keep students safe in the wake of the Parkland school shooting.
Investigators say a former student opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Wednesday afternoon.
Schools like Charlotte High School have fences to keep kids locked and secured, posted “no trespass” warnings, surveillance cameras, and signs warning no weapons are allowed on campus. But sometimes, those measures aren’t enough.
“I couldn’t imagine it. If it was me, I would drop everything I was doing,” Jim Gatto, a parent in Charlotte County, told Fox 4. “I’d go in there and I’d break every door down just to find him.”
“It happened there, how do you know it’s not going to happen to you next?” Charlotte High School sophomore Brendan True said.
If the unthinkable were to happen at a Charlotte County Public School, what are officials doing to keep students safe?
“We prepare our students and staff for a situation like this, but I don’t know that you can prevent something like this from happening,” Mike Riley of Charlotte County Public Schools said.
He said the district runs code red drills for situations like this. He said if what happened in Parkland were to happen in Charlotte County, the schools would go on lockdown.
“When there’s a lockdown, everything is shut down in the school. You can't get in, you can't get out. But one of the most important things is there's one way in our school and one way out, and all the classrooms are locked off and secured,” he said.
He also said each school has an armed school resource officer.
“They should learn and they should be taken care of. They should be safe. They shouldn't have anything to worry about when they go to school,” Gatto said.
Riley said there are counselors available on campus for students who need it.
