On the first day back to school after a shooting on campus, students walked out of Wilmer-Hutchins High School on Monday morning in an act of protest over campus security.
NBC 5 was outside the school when 50 to 100 students began leaving the building. Students who stopped to speak with NBC 5 said they were concerned for their safety and that the people hired to keep the campus safe weren't doing their job.
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Students shared that their was a brief meeting about the incident and said school leaders seemed to blame teachers for needing to do more, but they felt it was the administration which hasn't put enough structure and emphasis on safety.
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"They try to pick all the trouble onto the teachers, like it's their job to protect us, its their job to teach us," one student told us.
Two teachers joined in with students and walked out of school also critical of school leaders.
Tyree Dean told NBC 5 on Monday morning he teaches English III and IV at the school. He said he had to find out what was going on at the school on Friday through social media and that he's proud of his students for walking out of class and for using their voices.
"We should not go back to business as usual, right? I have a child and a child on the way, My wife was scared out of her mind, not knowing what was going to happen, right? And nobody thanked us" said Dean.
Dean teaches English and says the school failed teachers, students, and parents.
"I had to find out the information via social media. Because there was no proper internal communication to let me know that my life was in danger."
Their words echo what we’re hearing from parents at the high school.
Mark Shannon is at work today but grabbed his cellphone and came out to share with us he’ll be pulling his daughter from Hutchins, calling the shooting a final straw, of safety concerns and lack of organization on campus.
Parents and students say the district has not reached out to them over the weekend to discuss the shooting, share details of how their investigating, or reassure them of safety measures in place.
"Worry about your children that you're supposed to be teaching and putting, reassuring us parents that you're doing something to actually make it safe for them to go to school," was Shannon's message to DISD.
The parents pointed to, Wilmer Hutchins Elementary next door.
The principal holding a virtual meeting of sorts to answer questions live over the weekend, and reassure them but they got nothing at the high school.
A student was injured Friday when another student entered the building with a gun and shot that student in the leg. The injured student was hospitalized and is expected to recover. A teacher is credited with directing the armed student out of the classroom and away from the building. The armed student was later taken into custody and a gun was recovered.
No other injuries were reported and identifying information about the student and victim, including age or grade, has not been confirmed.
Dean told us district police staff repeatedly tried to stop him from exiting campus with the students.
"These Black and brown kids deserve to have their voices heard. And they should not try to force us to go back inside alright? They shouldn't try to threaten my job because I'm trying to give them a voice, right? They deserve to have a voice. In this country, they need to know that they are important and that regardless of their ZIP code and where they are from, that they matter."
To ensure safer schools, Dallas ISD said they have a policy requiring clear or mesh backpacks for all students in grades K-12. District officials have not said how the student got the gun into the building.
"They want them to go inside because they don't want this to be disruptive. This needs to be disruptive. We should not go back to business as usual," Dean said.
DISD has yet to respond to the accusations made my students, teachers, and parents, but DISD trustee Maxie Johnson was at the school this morning and said he understands the student's frustration and will be holding a community meeting at his church Tuesday at 7pm to help parents be able to voice their concerns and be heard.
