Dallas ISD Retraining Following School Shooting Due to Protocol Failures

Dallas, TX – Following a shooting at Wilmer-Hutchins High School that left one student injured, school staff in the nearby district of Dallas ISD are undergoing retraining due to protocol failures leading up to the incident. Police Chief Albert Martinez has taken full responsibility for what happened on April 12, where protocols were not followed strictly enough according to him, ultimately resulting in a gun getting inside campus grounds. The offender, Ja’Kerian Rhodes-Ewing, reportedly entered school late with the weapon hidden in his bag which triggered metal detectors but went undetected due to insufficient checking procedures by staff members dealing with long lines of students as classes began for the day. Martinez explains that a human error and systems failure caused this breach since monitoring and staff weren’t following protocols, processes or training correctly during such pressures. He emphasized safety must remain prioritized above everything else despite school start times looming in their minds. The metal detectors were functioning properly at the time of the incident; however, Martinez stated that they should have followed secondary steps to ensure why it went off when triggered by Rhodes-Ewing’s bag as staff members did not perform a thorough check during such instances before. Furthermore, he revealed old machines with malfunctions had already been removed from campuses and confirmed metal detectors were only meant for support but needed humans ensuring that safety measures are enforced if any warnings arise. The district also experienced an off-campus shooting involving two Roosevelt High students last week handled by Dallas Police Department (DPD), causing DPS to raise the security alert leading up until school cancelations on Friday following a credible threat. Martinez believes this event necessitated resetting protocols and training, emphasizing that safety measures should remain atop priorities even when under pressure from long lines of students or tight schedules for classes starting.