CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — In the first few weeks since students returned to class, Corpus Christi ISD parents said they are worried about taking their children to school after several incidents involving weapons have been reported.
CCISD police said two Moody High School students were arrested Monday in two separate incidents involving firearms.
A third incident was reported Friday at Los Encinos Elementary School.
District police said an unloaded gun was found inside a student's backpack, prompting the school to be put on lockdown.
The CCISD police chief tells us their partnership with the Corpus Christi Police Department is working very well at keeping schools, students, and staff safe.
"Really the system worked and it worked very well. Staff or students were empowered to alert us and in doing so we were able to apprehend the persons with weapons," CCISD police chief Kirby Warnke said.
Warnke added students at Los Encinos Elementary will not be allowed to bring backpacks to schools and the incident remains under investigation.
CCISD Superintendent Roland Hernandez says that the systems put in place by the district to protect students and staff are working and other districts have been reaching out to ask about measures CCISD has implemented. He added that incidents such as the ones that occurred in the last few weeks are not ones that they ever want to see.
"You don’t want that to happen at all in any school," Hernandez said. "In some cases it’s not that unusual, what we have to remember is that we have many situations where many kids have not been in schools for a good period of time and we are having to transition and retrain and help people understand the do’s and don’ts, what’s acceptable what’s not acceptable."
Hernandez says that while it is about retraining students, it's also about parent and community involvement.
"We need to really get the word out in the community that this is something that extends outside of the school," Hernandez said. "I would encourage parents to never hesitate to call that school, call administrators, have students go and visit with a teacher or even a counselor the more we know the more we can do."
Specialty producer Rachel Clow contributed to this story.
