Parents React to Liberty Tech High School Shooting
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JACKSON, Tenn. — Many parents of Liberty Tech Magnet High School students are upset with the school after an on campus shooting left many wondering if their child was okay. Around 2:20 p.m. as classes at Liberty High School were being dismissed, police said a 17-year-old Liberty student was shot outside in front of the school’s main office. The victim was transported by ambulance to Jackson-Madison County General Hospital with a single gunshot wound to his thigh. Officers locked down the campus immediately to search for the suspected shooter. As officers searched, parents said they were forced to wait and wonder if their child was the one hurt. “I just need to get my baby,” said Donara Anthony, a parent. “I just know that one of the kids got shot and I just need to make sure my son is OK. I couldn’t get an answer at the school, I called one of the teachers I couldn’t get an answer and my son is not answering his phone so I’m just here to pick him up.” Many parents said they were forced to watch helplessly as officers searched packed buses for the shooting suspect they identified as a 16 year-old student at Liberty High. “I’m a little freaked out and a little scared,” said parent Suzanne Holt. “All I know is that somebody got shot…a student got shot.” Some parents told WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News that they did not even know there had been a shooting on campus until they saw the blue lights for themselves. “No, I did not I just knew traffic was backed up,” said parent Sherre McCalin. Approximately 30 minutes after the shooting, officers took the shooter into custody at his grandmother’s home on Cotton Grove Road in east Madison County. Around 5 p.m., a Jackson police dog found the gun used in the shooting in the area. “I did not send my child here for this, I feel like a failure in a weird way as a parent for putting my kids here,” said Holt. District leaders told WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News that they did notify parents after they were first able to make sure everyone at Liberty High was safe. Many parents and students said they would like to see more security on campus, maybe even metal detectors out in place to make sure guns do not make it onto the campus again. “There is so much going on, I’m just ready to be done with it, I mean really it’s ridiculous,” said Anthony. Police said the victim was admitted at the hospital and is in stable condition. The shooter is being questioned by investigators and will be transported to the Madison County Juvenile Detention Center. The motive remains under investigation. Anyone with information on this case is asked to contact Jackson Police Department’s Major Crimes Bureau at (731) 425-8400 or Crime Stoppers at (731) 424-8477 (TIPS). Submit a cyber tip at jmcrimestoppers.org and click on “web tips”.
