GREENSBORO, N.C. — A gun was found on a student at a Guilford County high school Tuesday, Feb. 20, according to the school district.
Guilford County School (GCS) officials said the student was let in through an unauthorized door by another student at Smith High School in Greensboro, in possession of a gun.
GCS officials said no one was threatened or harmed.
School officials also said the student's name will not be released because they are underage, but they will face disciplinary actions.
Parents were alerted via phone calls, according to GCS.
GCS said, "They take the safety of its students and staff seriously and we will continue to work with law enforcement to honor our commitment to their safety."
Zantwan Worthy is an alum of Smith High School.
He said, "It’s a safety issue for everybody even the person who possesses the weapon because you just don’t know what could happen to anyone when you have that.”
Worthy explained that he spent 14 years in a federal prison earlier in life, and strives to help steer teens on a new path so they don’t make the same mistakes he did.
"Kids think it’s cool to do stuff you’re not supposed to, but I wanted to explain to them the pain that I went through. The time that I lost the relationship. I messed up with family, my daughter, and other individuals it’s a painful thing," Worthy explained.
Mike Richey, the Assistant Superintendent of School Safety and Emergency Management for GCS said they are focused on making sure all doors at school are locked and secured.
Security inside schools in Guilford County is forever evolving and enhancing according to Richey.
"We are basically looking at all of the advances that are out there. We are constantly reviewing what is next, what do we need to be thinking of next. So we review unfortunately, we review every school shooting that happens in the nation. We review shootings that don’t happen in schools. Shopping malls, shopping centers, stores, everywhere that there’s a mass shooting we pay attention so we can see what we can learn to make sure that our kids are protected from it. We also look at the minor things, what people may think of as minor which are school fights. How can we prevent those? One of the things we have to talk about when we are dealing with any of this is how our schools are only a micro-cosmo of society as a whole,” he said.
New camera systems are being installed to monitor doorways and halls and alarm administrators of groups of students congregating in one area.
Richey said the district learned through interviews conducted that the reason the student came in through an unauthorized door was because of the body scanners.
“The scanners acted as a deterrent to bringing it in during the main course of the day. So, we know that that's another reason why we are focusing on doors and other entrances and ways to get into the schools," Richey shared.
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