Prescott schools assess security after shooting

Prescott Police Department Chief Joseph Beavers (center) speaks Monday in front of Prescott High School after a 14-year-old shot another eighth-grader on campus that morning.
Prescott Police Department Chief Joseph Beavers (center) speaks Monday in front of Prescott High School after a 14-year-old shot another eighth-grader on campus that morning.

A 14-year-old student who was shot in the chest Monday by a classmate at Prescott High School is expected to make a full recovery, the school district's superintendent said.

Superintendent Robert Poole said Tuesday that the student is recovering quickly at Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock after being shot by a 14-year-old classmate on the school's campus. The victim was airlifted Monday to the hospital in Little Rock, about 100 miles from the Nevada County town where the shooting occurred.

"He may get to come home today or tomorrow," Poole said.

Officials have not released the name of either student.

Prescott Police Chief Joey Beavers said the suspect was being held at a youth facility Tuesday while awaiting possible criminal charges.

Nevada County Prosecuting Attorney Christi McQueen said she is waiting for police to finish their investigation before determining whether charges will be filed.

State law allows prosecutors to charge minors as young as 14 as adults for taking a handgun onto school grounds. McQueen declined to address whether she is considering charging the suspect as an adult.

Eight students have been injured and one killed in school shootings in the United States in 2019, according to national data compiled by Education Week. Over the past four decades, there have been at least 11 shootings on Arkansas school and college campuses that have left 13 dead and 16 injured.

The shooting led to an hourlong lockdown of the school that began about 9:15 a.m., and prompted a large police response as officers searched for the suspected shooter.

"It's that call that no police chief wants to get," Beavers said. "It's that dreaded call."

Beavers said the Arkansas State Police arrested the suspect off campus, less than 30 minutes after the incident occurred. Officers also found a handgun behind bushes in front of the high school.

School district leaders said they will review additional security measures and practices in the coming weeks. A public meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m. today in the high school auditorium to discuss school safety, procedures and recovery, the school district said in a statement posted Tuesday on Facebook.

Several parents told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette they weren't notified by school officials that the campus had been placed on lockdown. Poole said Tuesday that he is working to "get everybody on the same page" by making sure parents are on the district's communication list.

"A lot of times parents don't understand why [schools] go on lockdowns and why they can't get their kids," Poole said. "We're getting those things worked out."

Multiple parents told the Democrat-Gazette that photos of the suspect holding a weapon and making threats were seen on social media prior to Monday's shooting. Poole encouraged students and parents on Tuesday to be proactive in reporting social media posts that might be cause for concern.

School officials said they believe the teens were involved in a dispute prior to the shooting, but officials declined to elaborate Tuesday.

Classes were canceled shortly after the lockdown was lifted Monday as police pored over school grounds. Dozens of students, parents and community members gathered that evening at the school to sing, pray and call for peace.

Counselors were at the school Tuesday, working with students and teachers in need of support. Counselors will be available the rest of the week, Poole said.

"It's not easy for either one of them," the superintendent said. "It's their worst nightmare."

Poole said students and staff practice at least one active shooter lockdown situation every year, as well as a handful of other security drills. He said he was "very proud" of how the staff reacted to the situation.

Beavers said the school was locked down "pretty tight" when officers arrived.

"Everything worked like it should have," Poole said.

Two school resource officers were at the school at the time of the shooting, and six officers from the Prescott Police Department responded to the initial call.

Beavers said it's almost inevitable, in a town with a population of roughly 3,000, that local law enforcement officials will know someone at the school when they respond to a shooting on campus, but he said officers handled it well.

"I am pretty proud of our response," Beavers said. "We are a small-town police department, but we train like a big-city department and it showed."

The police chief said he expects the community to rally around one another.

"We take care of each other," Beavers said. "I think the community will come together and pull through this."

Information for this article was contributed by Youssef Rddad of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

State Desk on 04/03/2019

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