Seattle Schools Community Forum

From SPS Twitter feed: Shelter in place: Aki Kurose MS & Graham Hill Elem . to due @ SeattlePD activity in 4600 blk of S. Rainier Pl. No students injured/involved.

Apparently some kind of gun fire happened in the Emerson Elementary area this morning.  This was staff reported to the SPD who decided to have patrols before and after school.  There was a shelter-in-place at 6:30 am this morning for preschool students and staff in the building. 

Is this truly what we are doing in our schools?  What does this kind of thing do to a 6-year old child?  Or high school kids who watch the news and wonder if their high school is next?  One good (maybe small but good) step forward: pass 594.   Next step, make gun owners financially liable for what happens with their guns (if not stolen).  Nothing gets people's attention like their pocketbook.  My party line is own all the guns you want (within reason - no one needs an semi-automatic assault rifle).  BUT, you should be held responsible for use of said guns.  That's seems a fair trade-off.  And, like cars, you should have to license them, get training to use them and have insurance.

There was an incident at Lincoln where a 20-year Special Ed student was thought to have a knife.  That triggered a shelter-in-place for about 15 minutes.  It turns out it was a plastic toy knife.  SPD responded and spoke to the student. SPD were called to the Rainier Beach area around 2:30 pm with a call of shots fired in the air by a guy who took off on foot.  This was at 50 Ave S and South Rose.  SPS put Dunlap, RBHS, South Shore Pk-8, Bailey Gatzert and South Lake on shelter-in-place while police checked out the scene.  (Bailey Gatzert was on shelter-in-place simply because an SPD officer happened to be visiting the school, heard the call and asked for it to be enacted until he/she had more info.)   This shelter-in-place was about 20 minutes and was not associated with any SPS student or staff member.