When school safety comes to mind, students often imagine the dangers of an earthquake or fire, but recently, the danger of school shootings or directed offenses towards schools have been a growing issue.
Historically, South and other schools across the country have had little to worry about other than the threat of mother nature. However, all of that changed after the United States experienced its first mass school shooting at Columbine High School in 1999. Lately, school shootings and threats of school violence have been on the rise.
Recently, South Salem High School has fallen victim to these challenges after a student brought a knife and loaded gun to school on Wednesday, March 1st. An unidentified student sent a video through social media claiming to have a loaded gun. A student who viewed the video worked quickly in reporting to school staff, who contacted officials about the threat. When officers approached the school, the student fled and was apprehended near their vehicle by law enforcement. After the initial arrest, Salem Police reported finding a knife on the individual and after gaining a search warrant, they searched the student’s backpack and vehicle, reportedly finding a loaded gun.
So, how exactly do staff prevent dangerous people or weapons from entering the building?
“Security cameras, locked doors, a secure vestibule in the front lobby, and protocols and plans in place,” Vice Principal Brian Armstrong said.
Armstrong also said that new safety features are on-going and updated whenever necessary. “Every time we do a drill, we’ll sit down after the drill and we’ll talk about it, what went well, what didn’t go well, what are some things we need to work on.”
South Salem High School encourages students to report dangerous or suspicious activity either anonymously, over email (to one of the behavioral specialists), in-person through the student center, or through Safe Oregon.
