Teacher groups call for safety, better procedures after shooting at Mansfield Timberview
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Mansfield Timberview High School shooting
Four people were injured in a shooting at Mansfield Timberview High School in Arlington. Police arrested the shooter, a student at the school.
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Texas educators called for a “hard look” into safety policies and procedures after a fight-turned-shooting at Mansfield Timberview High School left four injured Wednesday morning.
Timothy Simpkins fired shots in a classroom after fighting another student, police say. Videos filmed by students show two students throwing each other onto the floor and against a wall, as someone off-camera shouts for help. Simpkins, accompanied by an attorney, turned himself in at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday and faces three charges of aggravated assault, police said.
Calling for help is about all witnesses can do, said Steven Poole, executive director of the United Educators Association.
“School resources are spread real thin in all of our schools, so when a fight breaks out like this, a teacher can call for help, but that’s just a matter of time until more help gets to that fight,” Poole said. “You can see how quickly things spiral out of control.”
Mansfield school district assigns at least two police officers to each campus location, according to a district spokesperson. Timberview High School’s website lists two police officers in its support staff directory.
Poole said more should be done to improve campus safety.
“We’re going to really have to take a hard look at what more can be done on making sure our schools are safe,” Poole said.
In a statement, Texas State Teachers Association President Ovidia Molina called for legislation surrounding gun safety in response to the shooting. Molina was not available for further questions on in-school safety Wednesday evening.
“Once again we demand that our elected officials start taking actions to keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them,” Molina wrote.
A Mansfield school district spokesperson told reporters at the scene that district officials will evaluate its safety policies. The district does not have metal detectors or a clear bag policy.
Timberview High School educators have an emergency button they can press that alerts the front office, according to a teacher who wished to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation from the district. The buzzers, however, do not always work. Classrooms also have locked cabinets with pepper spray in case of active shooter situations.
Having a button that alerts campus police and administrators instead of the front office could make a difference in cases like the shooting Wednesday, the teacher said.
“There’s too many middlemen,” she said.
More than 1,700 students were transported from the high school Wednesday. Hundreds of parents stood in line outside Mansfield school district’s Center for Performing Arts to reunite with their children.
The school district canceled classes at Timberview and Early College High School Thursday, as well as after-school activities and parent-teacher conferences.
Three of the four wounded in the shooting were treated at Medical City Arlington, a hospital spokesperson told the Star-Telegram, one of whom underwent surgery.
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