SACRAMENTO, Calif — Community leaders are calling for school safety improvements after a shooting in broad daylight at Grant Union High School.
"I think that overall our school districts are not prepared for this," said Leia Schenk, with Empact. "We always just hope that in never happens to us. We see these things happen on TV all the time, and you just hope that that day doesn't come for you."
Schenk is also a parent of a student in the Twin Rivers Unified School District, which includes Grant High School.
"We've been in the district 25 years. I'm getting these text messages at the same time that the Grant parents are receiving (them) and instantly your heart drops," said Schenk.
The shooting involved a 17-year-old victim and a 14-year-old suspect.
"What caused this? What is it rooted in is what we have to figure out. Whatever happened to fighting? Whatever happened to a disagreement? Whatever happened to talking things out? Now, children are bringing guns to school in order for them to feel safe. That's a problem. So the epidemic of gun violence in America is happening, and this time, it's in our own backyard," said Schenk.
Schenk said no one should have been able to get on campus with a gun and that something has to change.
"We as parents don't feel safe sending our kids to school. That has to change. So they owe it to the parents. They owe it to their staff. Think about them and the fear that they probably felt. And they owe it to the community to know that they are making immediate changes, immediate safety procedures," said Schenk. "What are you going to do? What message are you going to send the students with this particularly incident to let other students know what will not be tolerated in the school district."
The district superintendent released the following letter to parents. It's viewable in the PDF below.
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