Improper Backpack Check Leads to School Shooting at Wilmer-Hutchins High School

A student at Wilmer-Hutchins High School accused of bringing a gun onto campus and shooting another student was able to bypass metal detectors due to improper backpack checks by staff, according to Dallas ISD trustee Maxie Johnson. The district cited an unspecified failure to follow safety protocols as the reason for allowing Ja’kerian Rhodes-Ewing into school with a firearm on April 12, which led to his arrest and charges of assault causing bodily injury with a deadly weapon and the prohibited carry of a weapon in school premises. However, trustee Johnson emphasized that “the metal detectors worked,” suggesting errors in staff procedures rather than equipment malfunctions were responsible for Rhodes-Ewing’s successful entry into Wilmer-Hutchins High School on April 12. The district has announced additional safety measures since the shooting but declined to provide specific details until its investigation is complete, with only vague statements released thus far regarding “several” protocol violations during a late entry process for students. Rhodes-Ewing remains in police custody while his case awaits trial at Dallas County Juvenile Court, according to Dallas ISD’s public communications team member Lona Allen Stewart.