by Grace Carr
Another Florida school is actively taking precautions against shooters by hiring armed combat veterans to patrol its campus, a year after the tragic Parkland shooting.
The Manatee School for the Arts, a charter school, will employ two combat veterans to protect the school and prevent any persons attempting to shoot up the school, according to HuffPost. The guards will both carry a handgun and military-style long gun, WWSB TV reported.
“If someone walks onto this campus, they’re going to be shot and killed,” said school principal Bill Jones, according to the Bradenton Herald. “We’re not going to talk with them. We’re not going to negotiate. We are going to put them down, as quickly as possible.”
One guard with 15 years of infantry experience has patrolled the campus for a number of months, HuffPost reported. A second guard will patrol the campus starting at the end of February.
The hires coincide with the one year anniversary of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre in Parkland. Former student Nikolas Cruz entered the high school on Feb. 14, 2018, and methodically walked through the school and opened fire on students in hallways and hiding in classrooms.
Cruz killed 17 people and wounded more than a dozen others.
The Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Commission released a Jan. 2 report that included a proposal to arm teachers.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) sent out an email Thursday asking recipients to “stand with Democrats who will work to solve our nation’s gun violence epidemic” by providing their personal information. People who received the email were promptly redirected to a page asking for money “to stand up against the GOP and the gun lobby” upon providing their information.
The White House sent a Thursday tweet remembering the victims who lost their lives in the shooting and promising to make schools safer.
Today, @POTUS, @FLOTUS, and the entire country remember the 17 precious lives lost in Parkland, FL, one year ago. No parent or child should ever experience this kind of pain. School safety will always be a top priority for the Trump administration. https://t.co/01XxNmVF1I
— Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived (@PressSec45) February 14, 2019
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Grace Carr is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation. Follow Grace on Twitter.
Photo “School Security” by Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
