Fort Worth police adding security cameras, increasing patrols after Polytechnic fight
Fort Worth police are adding surveillance cameras and increasing patrols around Polytechnic High School after a 17-year-old student was stabbed and shot Thursday at a convenience store across the street from the campus.
Police said Friday the cameras will be monitored by the department’s Real Time Crime Center and that there will be an “increased school officer presence.”
The teen suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said, during the lunch-break fight, which was captured on video as a crowd watched.
In October, 17-year-old Nick Delgadillo died during an off-campus lunch break when he crashed his car into a tree while driving back to Paschal High School. Police said Delgadillo was apparently racing with other students on McCart Avenue.
Asked if the school district is making any changes to its off-campus policy, district spokesman Clint Bond said considerations are always being made, especially after critical incidents. Juniors and seniors are allowed to leave campus for lunch.
“We have made some moves that will reduce the amount of off-campus lunch activity,” he said, explaining that the district hired a new company to make school lunches.
“They have done a lot to upgrade the food within the cafeterias,” he said. “And we’re about to unveil very soon four new food trucks that will be visiting campuses on a rotating basis. We hope this will help keep kids on campus. I think after every particular incident that happens, especially one as egregious as this, having that discussion is worthwhile.”
Off-campus lunches have slowly become a thing of the past for many school districts across the country. Last year alone, schools in Oklahoma and Michigan switched to a closed campus policy citing safety concerns for students.
This story was originally published January 17, 2020 at 4:55 PM.
