West Liberty-Salem High School, located in Salem, Ohio added its name to the list of shootings that took place in schools. Bullet holes in a bathroom wall are the only visible scars, but psychological trauma is still present.
Greg Johnson, the principal, said: “Later, they received the good news that no one died, but that their brains had already experienced this traumatic experience.”
Johnson and Andy McGill, a fellow principal, rushed into the bathroom to assist a student that had been shot two times, while the shooter was just feet away. McGill managed to convince the shooter – another student – to put down the gun.
After the shooting, the two led the charge to implement new safety measures including bulletproof windows, improved window exits, and a School Resource Officer — but they decided not to arm staff or teachers.
According to the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety, 15 states in the U.S. allow school staff to carry firearms on campus. According to the Ohio School Safety Center, over the past year, the number of school districts that allow their staff to carry guns quadrupled.
Mad River Local School district, located about 50 miles south-west of Salem and just outside Dayton has provided guns to approximately 20 of its teachers. The district has a policy that protects the identities of these teachers.
Chad Wyen is the superintendent at Mad River and the only armed member of the staff whose identity is public. His firearm is in a locked cabinet that’s unlocked by a code. It was Wyen’s idea to have guns near teachers in a safe, rather than on them — a strategy to prevent unauthorized access.
“There’s usually a live round inside the chamber,” Wyen stated, “We must be prepared.”
He said that guns in the classrooms are a way to help the one resource officer who is responsible for eight schools throughout the district.
Wyen stated, “Our police could not get there in time for it to be stopped, so that’s why they chose that route.”
He says that fortunately, no student has ever brought a gun onto their campus, and the majority of parents are thankful for this extra layer of security.
A teacher whose identity has been concealed in compliance with district safety measures said that she is aware of the possibility that a shooter could be a student she knows.
“At the time, this student is not my student. Now they are a murderer and I’m stopping a danger. And that’s so we can save lives,” the teacher said.
She replied, “I can understand why people are opposed to arming teachers and school staff. I also understand their concerns about guns.” Before I became comfortable with guns, I had the same concerns. It’s a tool that you can use to protect yourself, or other people.
She said that if the situation arose, she would “be willing to die” to protect a student.
