Police investigate at Huffman, Crosby
CROSBY – In the wake of the shooting at Santa Fe High School, an incident in which a student brought a pistol to Hargrave High School in Huffman – Crosby was taking nothing for granted when a threat was found to be written on a bathroom wall indicating there would be a shooting at Crosby High School on May 30. Later that threat would allegedly be moved up to May 22.
The Superintendent’s Office issued the following statement at 11:55 a.m. on May 21:
“We have received a report this morning that a threat was written on a bathroom wall at Crosby High School. The threat alleges a shooting that would take place on May 30th. At this time, administrators and our school resource officers are investigating the threat to determine its source. We are asking that our staff, parents, and students be especially vigilant in the coming days. In the aftermath of any school shooting, hoax threats are often made. However, we are not taking lightly any threat made against student safety. The threat did not name a specific student or group of students. A thorough investigation is in progress and appropriate consequences will be taken once we have more information. We strongly encourage you to directly report any information you have regarding this or other safety threats directly to the school district or you can use the Crosby ISD app, which has an anonymous tip line for the reporting of information related to any type of threat. We will keep you updated on the situation.”
Later on June 21 at about 4:07 p.m.:
“The threat that was discovered in a boy’s bathroom this morning at Crosby High School is still being investigated. Because so many students had already accessed that bathroom before the threat had been reported, it has proven difficult to narrow down the person who might have originally posted the threat. Regardless, administrators and our school resource officers are exhausting all avenues to determine the source of the threat. We will update if there is new information.”
Safety measures were offered on May 22.
“School resource officers are on-site at CHS and CMS. We will also have school resource officer presence on each of our elementary campuses. Our SROs are no longer on traffic duty in the morning in order to allow them to be on campuses.
We are employing additional School Resource Officers to increase presence at each campus through the end of the school year.
K9 units conducted a sweep at Crosby High School this morning and nothing was found to indicate an imminent threat.
Beginning this week, Crosby Middle School campuses will not allow students to bring backpacks to school for the remainder of the year. Teachers will provide necessary resources to students in class.
Beginning Tuesday (May 29th) of next week, Crosby High School campus will not allow students to bring backpacks to school for the remainder of the year. Teachers will provide necessary resources to students in class. Female students will be allowed to bring a small purse for personal items. Any students in athletics can keep their workout clothes or needed items in their athletic locker. Students are completing MacBook turn-in this week, and next week will be finals week with early release each day.
All campus main entrances are secured and do not allow open access to student areas without appropriate screening.
Periphery doors around each campus are locked regularly to prevent unauthorized entry and are only accessible by staff members with appropriate entry credentials.
Our Crosby ISD app includes an anonymous tip line that filters tips directly to each campus.
A camera assessment has been performed at each facility and additional cameras have been added to increase coverage. Older cameras have already been replaced with new cameras that provide higher definition coverage.
Administrators and other staff will be participating in National Incident Management Strategies (NIMS) June 11 and 12.
For 2018-2019 School Year: The Emergency Operations Plan will be aligned to match NIMS strategies and available to key staff via MyEOP app.
We will be implementing a Threat Assessment Team to provide a vehicle for staff to refer students who exhibit concerning behavior.
Crime Stoppers will renew efforts in the fall to promote student reporting efforts and to publicize available tip lines. This summer, we would like to host a community forum to discuss potential solutions moving forward. This is an extremely complicated issue with no clear answer and we want to work in collaboration with our community and field experts to determine the best solutions for the safety of our students and staff.”
A special called Crosby ISD Board of Trustees meeting was called for May 24 at 7:00 in the Operations Building.
Crosby’s Interim Superintendent Kirk Lewis issued the following statements concerning preparedness:
“It’s hard to believe we find ourselves mourning again the loss of life inside a school. That this one is so close to home drives the loss more deeply in our hearts. Our prayers go out to the Santa Fe community and the parents of those lost.
Since the tragedy in Florida in February, Crosby ISD administrative teams and teacher leaders have been conducting response training. Members of our senior staff have learned from presentations from local law enforcement officials to the Secret Service. Much of the information we’ve been given is being incorporated into a complete revision of the district’s Emergency Operation Plan currently being drafted by experts in school safety at the Harris County Department of Education.
Our principals and teachers have conducted multiple trainings of staff since February ensuring that our staff fully understand the fluid nature of active shooter incidents and the multiple possible responses based on each individual campus. It is important for our district and campus teams to know how to quickly evaluate a situation and appropriately respond to it. Our initial training has been focused on preparing our people. Our training and drills will extend to students at an age appropriate level in the days to come. In the event of an incident on one of our campuses today, I believe our teachers are much better prepared to provide the instructions our students need as they deal with the threat.
Please understand the reality of what we know. Most of these active shooters were students who most likely sat through active shooter drills and were fully aware of what students were being told to do. That reality means our teachers and staff must be fully trained and ready to react to very dynamic and fluid situations. It also must temper, to some extent, what we share students.
In light of this most recent occurrence, however, we will conduct a basic, active shooter drill before the end of the school year at our schools and follow up with more specific training as school begins next year.
Our heart’s desire and fervent prayer is that our schools and our students and staff will never face this kind of threat. Yet, we must prepare as if it could happen any day.
This is certainly not the message I prefer to send out this time of year. I’d much rather extol the achievement of the Crosby students as we prepare for the end of school and for graduation. Amid the tragedy, we will pray, do the things we can do, and find the heart and will to still celebrate the joy of this time of year.”
On Monday, May 21, officials at Huffman ISD confirmed that a student was arrested with a gun in his backpack at Hargrave High School. School officials had gotten a tip concerning a male with a pistol in his backpack and intent to harm himself. Huffman went on a brief lockdown as a precaution. while a K-9 Officer swept the high school. Parents were then allowed to pick up their student. Students and administration were congratulated on making the tip count and no one was injured.