One day after guns were found on school property, parents of students at Propel Braddock Hills High School and Propel Braddock Hills Elementary School, both in the same building located in Braddock Hills Shopping Center, are demanding answers about the administration’s plans for future safety measures.
Late in the school day on Monday, Jan. 26, students’ parents received an automated call that their child’s school had been placed on lockdown. They later discovered that authorities had found two guns, one reportedly being a Kel-tec .40 caliber handgun. Eighteen-year-old Shaquir Gilmore has been arrested, and charged with carrying a gun without a license and possession of a gun on school property. A minor student was also arrested.
A Facebook account believed to belong to Gilmore, under the name Shaquir Rashad, shows multiple pictures of him with a gun or making gestures of holding a gun. A January profile picture shows him in a school uniform shirt holding a gun.
While the incident occurred in the high school, it also affected the elementary school’s students. Genise Stanford, whose 6-year-old daughter attends Kindergarten at Propel Braddock, said she was scared when she first learned of the lockdown.
“The first call that we received I had missed, and when they left a message all I was able to hear is that the students were okay and that the dismissal should be as normal. But then I went on Facebook and saw that there was a gun found in school and I said, ‘Oh no, I need to get my daughter now.’ But when I got there, they wouldn’t let any parents in the (plaza) at all, so we all just lined up outside of the Braddock Hills Shopping Center.”
Stanford said police would not give any information and administrators weren’t answering the phones. “It took them forever to finally call us and let us know that we could pick up our children.” She was reunited with her daughter two hours after her daughter’s normal dismissal time.
“She was a little scared, but she is okay now,” Stanford said of her daughter.
It has been reported that Gilmore told officials that earlier in the day he was approached by the 16-year-old student; asking if he wanted to purchase one of the guns. He allegedly said no, but agreed to hold one of the guns for the day. The handgun was found in Gilmore’s backpack, the second gun was found on the other student, outside of the school.
When asked what she thinks administration needs to do to prevent future incidents like this from taking place, Stanford said the elementary students need to be better separated from the high schools students; she explained that only a hallway separates the two schools. She also said metal detectors need to be placed at the doorways and that book bag cheeks need to be conducted on the older students. She believes that would have been found immediately, preventing the lockdown.
School was closed Tuesday, Jan. 27, so that school administrators could examine, and discuss future, safety measures.
As for feeling comfortable with continuing to send her child to Propel Braddock, Stanford said, “Honestly I’m nervous because they don’t have anything to prevent it (incidents) right now.” She added, “They said the reason why they closed school today was because they’re going to talk about what they need to do to better secure these students, hopefully they do come up with a solution today because they still have the rest of the school year to go, they still have a couple of months, and who knows what could happen after yesterday’s events.”
A statement issued from the office of Propel Schools Superintendent Dr. Tina Chekan was released early Jan. 27. It read, “As we reflect upon yesterday’s isolated incident at Propel Braddock Hills High School, we are grateful that students, faculty and staff are safe. Families choose to send their students to Propel Schools because of our culture of safety and dignity. We will continue to review and update policies and exercises that are in the very best interest of student safety, at all times and on all campuses.”
It went on to read that they thank students for their behavior; faculty, staff, law enforcement and transportation companies for their roles; and the parents for their support and understanding during the lockdown.
Propel Schools serves more than 3,000 students in 10 locations throughout Allegheny County. The school celebrated its 10th anniversary last May.