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Community unites to stop crime near school campuses

15 hours 6 minutes 18 seconds ago Thursday, September 26 2024 Sep 26, 2024 September 26, 2024 9:12 PM September 26, 2024 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE - Parents of Belaire High School students united to discuss how to stop guns from entering schools after two incidents where a gun was found inside a student's locker and a man had a rifle near the school.

An unloaded .45 pistol was found in a Belaire High School student’s locker late last month, according to an East Baton Rouge School Board member. Then deputies arrested a man for having a rifle near the school and firing it into the ground. For parents, enough was enough.

WBRZ was told by a school board member that the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office found 11 weapons in East Baton Rouge schools this year. This includes all schools in the parish.

The public school system specifically says they have found six of the 11 reported. All other cases, they assume, come from other schools in the parish. WBRZ is waiting for more information from the sheriff's office on this.

Storm Matthews is a teacher and has worked at Belaire High School for eight years. She says student safety is her priority.

"There have been issues in the community, but they haven't crossed the brink of the actual school,” Matthews said. “It's now crossing into the school."

Wednesday teachers and parents united, determined to create a security group to mentor and keep a community connection. Byron Turner is the President of the Belaire High School Alumni Association and adds that the school needs a united front.

“Crime is not going to have its place here at this school,” Turner said.

The group is modeled after the Glen Oaks Security Dads, a group started in the 1990s after a student was killed near Glen Oak High School. Since then, the group has prioritized community service and unity in Baton Rouge. Turner says what worked for Glen Oaks can work for Belaire.

"The fact that you have a love or an appreciation for this school, should still cause you to want to come back and give."

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