OKLAHOMA CITY -
Security concerns
arise at Oklahoma City Public Schools after a stabbing at Roosevelt Middle
School.
A 7th grade student got through metal detectors with the knife he
used to stab another student at lunch Monday.
News 9 spoke with the district on Wednesday about security.
All secondary campuses in Oklahoma City Public Schools have
walk-through metal detectors, but police reports show the student at Roosevelt
got through by putting the knife in his shoe.
Now school leaders say they're tightening security across the
district.
10/9/12 Related Story: Student Arrested After Stabbing At OKC Middle School
Families are
concerned about school safety after the stabbing at Roosevelt Middle School,
leaving parents wondering how a 7th grader got a knife through the metal
detectors in the first place.
"Our schools are
safe," OKCPS Chief Operating Officer Jim Burkey said.
Burkey heads
security at Oklahoma City Public Schools.
"We've identified
what problem we've had in our process and corrected it, not only at Roosevelt
but all of our secondaries," Burkey said.
The student told
police he hid the knife in his shoe.
Lynda Worth wasn't
surprised. Her son went to Roosevelt, and got a cell phone through security the
same way for nearly two years.
"He said, ‘Well
the metal detectors only come to mid-thigh. Everyone sneaks their cell phones
in with their shoes'," Worth said.
She told the
principal what was going on, but she says nothing was done.
"That concerned
me," Worth says, "When I found out that, I was like, ‘What else are they
sneaking in?'"
The district is
taking more precautions, but Burkey says no security system is perfect.
"You've got to
understand we're wanding and scanning over 20,000 secondary students on a daily
basis, so something like this happening is an anomaly. It does occur though,"
Burkey said.
Police reports also show the attacking student had a box blade
hidden in his pants. He faces a charge of assault and battery with a
deadly weapon and carrying a weapon on school grounds.
That student has been suspended from school for a year.
A 7th grade student at Roosevelt Middle School got through metal detectors with the knife he used to stab another student at lunch Monday.
