DALLAS – Three people have non-life-threatening injuries, and one person is in serious condition because of a shooting at Wilmer-Hutchins High School in Dallas.
It happened almost exactly a year after a similar shooting on the Southeast Dallas campus.
Wilmer Hutchins High School Shooting
What we know about the victims:
Dallas and Dallas ISD police responded to calls about a shooting on the campus around 1 p.m. on Tuesday.
Dallas Fire-Rescue officials confirmed four people were taken to the hospital. Three of those people were shot and one was grazed. Only one has serious injuries and all others have non-life-threatening injuries.
Three of the victims range in age from 15 to 18. The age of the fourth person is unknown.
Sources told FOX 4 said at least one 17-year-old male student was shot in the lower leg.
Dallas Mayor Pro Temp Tennel Atkins said all of victims are expected to recover.
“We don’t have a serious injury right now to my knowledge. Pray for the family. Pray for the kids. Pray for the students. And thank God no one is crucially injured,” he said.
What we know about the shooter:
Dallas ISD Assistant Police Chief Christiana Smith said the suspect has been identified but has not yet been arrested.
“We have many of our law enforcement partners helping us. And we are working on locating and arresting the suspect at this time,” she said.
She would not release any information about the shooter or the circumstances leading up to the shooting.
Chief Smith would only say that the shooter did not bring the gun through security during regular intake.
“So it was not a failure of our staff, of our protocols, or of the machinery that we have,” she said.
Witness accounts:
Sergio Campos, a Wilmer City Council member and parent, said he was on campus at the time of the shooting for a meeting with his child’s teacher.
He heard about seven gunshots and then saw one or two victims being carried outside. One of them appeared to have a leg injury.
“The kids were just running out, all of them just hundreds of kids running out,” he said.
Freshman Salondra Ibanez heard the gunshots from her classroom.
“My teacher, she was going over our work and we heard a gunshot. At first, I was just trying to process it because usually they have like little things they smack in the halls, like they play around. So like, I was processing it and it went off again and it was faster this time. So that’s when me and my classmates, we got up and we went behind the teacher’s desk and I was making sure my classmates were okay and then we went into the storage room and we waited there until we got escorted out,” she said.
Superintendent Addresses Security
What they’re saying:
Dallas ISD Superintendent Dr. Stephanie Elizalde would not discuss how the suspect got the gun on campus or whether the school has security issues.
“Today, as we all know, the unthinkable has happened. And quite frankly, this is just becoming way too familiar, and it should not be familiar,” she said. “So I know that there are many questions and we’re not going to have all the answers right now because some of the information will be inaccurate. So we will do our very best because we know it is important to be always transparent.”
The campus will be closed for the remainder of the week.
Extra security will also be brought in for the nearby elementary school and counselors will be on hand for the high school students once the campus reopens.
“I want to do everything we can to provide reassurance to our parents. You know, the last thing anyone thinks when they’re bringing their children to school, whether it’s a high school or whether your spouse or significant other is going to work, is to think that these things are happening. But they do happen, and they shouldn’t be happening right now. Our primary concern is to continue to provide support, ensuring our schools are safe, and we will work with all of our community to do the very best we can to ensure that everyone feels safe. It’s not enough to be safe. They also have to feel safe,” Superintendent Elizalde.
Lawmakers React
What they’re saying:
Gov. Greg Abbott said his heart goes out to the victims of this senseless act of violence at Wilmer-Hutchins High School.
“I spoke with Dallas ISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde and Dallas ISD Chief Albert Martinez. I offered to support the school district families, students, and staff and to provide law enforcement with the tools they need to arrest the criminals involved and bring them to justice. Since I’ve been Governor, Texas has provided over $3 billion in school safety funding. This session, I am seeking an additional $500 million to further safeguard schools across the state. Cecilia and I ask our fellow Texans to join us in praying for the victims’ swift recovery and for the entire Wilmer-Hutchins High School community,” the governor said in a statement.
Related
Texas lawmakers are weighing in after a school shooting as Wilmer-Hutchins High School Tuesday.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson called the shooting “deeply troubling” and said schools should never be places of violence.
Parents Reunited with Students
What we know:
Dallas ISD said safety protocols were put into place and the campus was secured.
Parents were asked to head to Eagles Stadium to reunite with their children. That process is now complete, the district said.
What they’re saying:
Several parents spoke to FOX 4 after picking up their children.
“I’m thinking about taking them and putting them in homeschool. I can’t keep going through this as a parent. I’m telling you. It’s very frightening to think about losing your child, your kids. This is terrible,” said Shauna Williams, who has two students at the school.
2024 Wilmer-Hutchins High School Shooting
The backstory:
Tuesday’s shooting comes almost exactly a year since a 17-year-old Wilmer-Hutchins student shot another student inside a classroom.
On April 12, 2024, a student brought a revolver to the school and shot another classmate in the leg.
After the shooting, police said a teacher intervened and made the student leave the classroom. The school was placed on lockdown.
He was found a short time later near the school’s football field. The gun was found in the woods nearby.
The shooting prompted many questions about how the student brought a gun into the school.
Wilmer-Hutchins High School is equipped with metal detectors and has a clear backpack policy.
Related
Students are expected to return to Wilmer Hutchins High School in Dallas on Monday after a student was shot in a classroom on Friday.
District officials a few weeks later said the student’s bag wasn’t properly checked by staff.
The Source: The information in this story comes from FOX 4 crews at the scene, Dallas ISD, Dallas police, and Dallas Fire-Rescue.
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