With the crime rates growing each day, should we be worried about what could happen in our community? Two of the most deadly shootings in history happened within a span of 35 days, the first being the Las Vegas shooting that killed 58 and injured over 400 and the other being the Texas shooting which killed 26 people. While these were two of the most deadly,  many other shootings occurred throughout this year. Even though many of these shootings didn’t happen close to the Englewood area, it is still a cause for concern to our students. 

     Many are beginning to fear their safety at school, wondering if they might be unlucky and get stuck in a bad situation. “Nothing scares me more than thinking that my life could be put at risk, all because I want an education. What if someone was to shoot up the school and kill multiple students? That would destroy the Englewood community. ” Chris Uriarte (10) said. 

     “It greatly worries me that something could happen here at Englewood”

     Many schools have begun work on how to make it safer for students if a school shooting was to happen. According to Dudley Brown, a gun rights advocate and executive director of the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners group, in light of these events, school staff should be armed to fight from the inside, in case an active shooter should enter the school. 

     A few districts began moving in that direction. In September of 2013, a state board in Arkansas voted for 13 school districts to train their teachers and staff like armed guards. After this, several other states including Ohio, Colorado, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Washington added armed guards in their schools.

     Here at the TEC Campus, an armed police officer roams the halls along with three security guards. Though their job is to watch the students, if a shooting was to happen they would be the first responders. Marquette Williams, a campus security guard here on the TEC campus, “I was added for the safety of the building period, so I do work in all aspects of security. I think anything is possible including a school shooting. All of the security guards have special training in case of a shooting.”