Indiana PTA Statement on
Shooting at Dennis Intermediate School
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (December 13, 2018)
Indiana PTA released the following statement regarding the active shooter situation at David W. Dennis Intermediate School, located in Richmond, Indiana.
According to the Indianapolis Star, police and school officials were notified early this morning that an armed individual was heading to David W. Dennis Intermediate School with the intention of hurting people. All Richmond Community Schools were then placed on lockdown. When law enforcement officers arrived at the school, the suspect engaged them in a brief exchange of gunfire outside the building. The suspect then fled inside the building where he was eventually located in a stairwell. Another shootout occured, ending with the 14 year old suspect taking his own life. Thanks to the quick response of school personnel and local law enforcement, there were no other injuries during the incident.
Although injury and loss of life was limited to the suspected shooter today, these tragic situations affect the sense of safety of all Indiana students.
Indiana PTA strongly believes that all students deserve the opportunity to learn and grow in a safe school environment. Parents should not have to fear if their child will return home safely at the end of the school day.
Parents, students, teachers, administrators, and community members must join together to call on our elected officials to advocate for legislation which will strengthen background checks, fund gun violence research, ban assault weapons, and prevent persons who may endanger the safety of other citizens from accessing guns.
As we prepare to enter the new legislative session, Indiana PTA calls on our state and federal legislators to make student safety a high priority in the coming year. It's time that we say "enough is enough" and make significant policy changes to protect the future of all students.
PTA is also committed to supporting students, families, schools and communities in coping with and preventing violence. The association offers a variety of resources that can be downloaded at
PTA.org/SchoolSafety
. Our partners at
BeSMART
also offer information and resources regarding keeping unsecured firearms out of the hands of children.
For further media inquiries, please contact Carissa Dollar, Indiana PTA Vice President of Advocacy at [email protected] or Debbie Fox, Indiana PTA President at [email protected].
