Lindley Middle School shooting: Urgent calls for enhanced safety, mental health measures
COBB COUNTY, Ga. - Students, parents and staff at Lindley Middle School are still shaken by a tragic situation at their school on Wednesday.
At Thursday's Cobb County School Board meeting, many wanted to know what is being done to make sure something like this doesn't happen again.
Cobb County school shooting
The backstory:
On Wednesday afternoon, Lindley Middle School in Mableton was swarmed by police after a report of a shooting inside one of the bathrooms. Police said a student used a gun to harm herself. The Cobb County Police Department and Cobb County School Police quickly responded, securing the campus and initiating a lockdown to protect students and staff. The student, whose identity has not been disclosed, is in critical condition and was airlifted to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Counselors are available to support those affected by the tragedy
READ MORE: Lindley Middle School shooting: Juvenile critical after shooting self on campus, police say
Parents react to school shooting
What they're saying:
The incident has left students, parents, and staff shaken.
Mableton City Councilwoman Patricia Auch emphasized the need to prevent guns in schools and address the mental health crisis: "Both preventing a gun in school or to prevent the mental health crisis that we have that students feel they don't have somewhere to go and take extreme measures."
Laura Judge called for comprehensive policies to address violence: "Every factor contributing to violence, self-inflicted or not, on school grounds must be examined and addressed with thoughtful informed policies. We need action."
School board member Tre Hutchins, whose son is an 8th grader at Lindley, shared his personal experience: "He called me frantic, afraid, he was scared."
Superintendent Chris Ragsdale stressed the importance of identifying students in need of assistance: "We must do everything we can to ensure we identify students who need assistance moving forward. Our thoughts and prayers are with the student and her family and the family at Lindley Middle School."
Preventing future school shootings
What's next:
Tre Hutchins plans to advocate for increased funding for mental health programs and stronger safety measures to prevent weapons from entering schools. "We're in a time post-COVID where we need to focus more on the mental health of children and I’m going to help advocate for that," said Hutchins.
The Cobb County School Board has not yet taken specific action in response to the incident.
The Source: This article is based on original reporting by FOX 5's Denise Dillon.