Politicians and school systems discuss safety measures after Apalachee High School shooting

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) – We're hearing from local politicians following Wednesday's tragic mass shooting at Apalachee High School.

Gun safety is a sensitive issue.

Local Democrats say more needs to be done to restrict people's access to firearms, arguing that in Wednesday's shooting, a 14-year-old should never have been allowed to own a gun.

Meanwhile, local Republicans are putting a focus on safety measures and technology in and around schools, with both stressing the importance of the issue, especially with elections just months away.

“I'm more concerned about our value system and what makes people do these things. I'm 77 years old and nothing like this ever happened in my school days,” said MP Bill Hitchens.

“Gun safety is on the ballot. We have to remember that firearms are the leading cause of death for children and teens in Georgia, and that's a horrifying statistic. And we know that parents care deeply about this issue and they care deeply about the safety of their children in school,” said Rep. Anne Westbrook.

WTOC also spoke to local schools about the measures they have taken to protect your children.

Rob Rodriguez, deputy police chief for the Savannah-Chatham School District, said: “It's a terrible incident. The loss of life, no matter what the cause and at what time, is terrible.”

The deputy police chief of the Savannah-Chatham Schools Board of Education said they hope to never see Wednesday's shooting happen, but are constantly preparing for it.

“We are pursuing a multi-stage approach.”

This approach begins with disseminating information such as safety protocols to the population. The next step is to ensure safety in schools using fences, cameras, gun detectors and other modern technologies.

In addition, it must be ensured that officers are trained and ready for action.

“Last school year alone, we trained over 3,000 officers in dealing with active shooter situations.”

After the staged shooting at Savannah High School two years ago, they are confident about how they will respond, Rodriguez said.

“It has shown us that we have done the right thing and are on the right track. And as long as we continue to do what we have been doing and continue to improve, we will only improve the safety of our students and staff.”

Meanwhile, there was also a scare in Candler County schools on Wednesday when someone saw pictures of Apalachee High School and confused that school's logo with that of Metter High School.

John Jordan, assistant superintendent of Candler County Schools, said, “The high school was placed on lockdown and school security officers began searching for a possible threat.”

Although the report was a mistake, Jordan noted that he was glad someone thought to report something that was concerning them.

“I think it’s great that someone was concerned, that someone saw something and said something,” Jordan said.

Now the district is continuing to learn from how it dealt with the panic on Wednesday.

“We are meeting again with local law enforcement to discuss yesterday’s events and discuss our actions and theirs,” Jordan said.

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