School was back in session at the Pioneer Technology and Arts Academy in Mesquite on Tuesday, a day after police say an armed student was injured when shot at by officers.
Mesquite Police are still investigating after they say a 16-year-old juvenile walked into the school office with a gun on Monday morning, threatening to shoot himself and others on campus.
Mesquite Police said the first 911 call was received at 8:49 a.m., and within two minutes, their first officer was on campus.
"From the time the call came until we had an officer on scene was two minutes," said Lt. Brandon Ricketts. "Navigating a large campus, multiple large buildings [and] hallways leading to hallways, it took six minutes from the call to officers being in the doorway speaking to the suspect."
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School administrators were credited with keeping the boy calm until police arrived.
"They talked to him to keep him calm and isolated until officers could take part. They were a huge reason why we had the outcome that we did," Ricketts said.
Mesquite Police said three officers talked with the student, urging him to put down his gun, but that they ended up firing their weapons and injuring him.
The Dallas Morning News first reported that officers fired 19 times and that the student did not fire his weapon. The police department later confirmed this information with NBC 5.
Police have not said how many times the boy was hit or confirmed whether he was hit by a bullet or shrapnel. He was released from the hospital Monday night after being treated for a leg wound and is currently in the Dallas County Juvenile Detention Center.
Officials have also not said what happened in the immediate moments before the police officers opened fire, and they have not said if the student pointed his gun toward the officers.
Overnight, NBC 5 learned Mesquite Police executed several search warrants at various locations, trying to learn how the boy ended up with the gun and piece together what led to him bringing it on campus.
Because the student is a juvenile, his identity is not being released.
He currently faces a charge of exhibition of a firearm, a third-degree felony, but more charges are to be expected, said Ricketts.
BODYCAM VIDEO, SURVEILLANCE VIDEO TO BE RELEASED
NBC 5 has learned Mesquite Police will eventually release body camera video of the police response to Monday's incident, but they have not said when those materials would be made available to the public.
The department said they also plan to release 911 calls and surveillance video (CCTV) of the incident at the beginning of next week.
PARENTS HESITANT TO RETURN CHILDREN TO SCHOOL SO QUICKLY
Some of the parents of students at the charter school who spoke with NBC 5 said they were concerned about their children returning to class so soon after the incident and that were considering keeping them at home.
A student told NBC 5 that most classrooms were empty on Tuesday.
"Not many really showed up, which is good because ... it was a traumatic experience," the student said.
When asked if it was a tough decision whether or not to return to school a day after the lockdown, the student said, "It was a little. But thank God I didn't witness so much."
NBC 5 has learned an armed security guard was on the campus at the time of the incident, but that the guard was not involved in the incident.
The school sent a letter to parents on Monday night that they believed returning to class was "important to maintain the routine" and that they would be enhancing security at the school.
In the letter, the school said they will add more cameras throughout the campus, install metal detectors, upgrade entry systems to ensure all access points are secured and monitored, and train staff, "to provide an extra layer of protection and response capability."
On Tuesday, one armed security officer was seen actively patrolling the exterior property of the school.
On Tuesday, the school said metal detectors were already being installed at entrances and that they were rerouting how students enter the campus to make sure that everyone passed through the detectors.
Despite the plan to improve security, parents told NBC 5 that the extra security didn't erase their fear.
"Just still kind of in shock but glad nobody is hurt," a parent told NBC 5. The couple, who decided their child should stay home for the day, swung by campus for a brief moment to grab his backpack.
Even before the school announced its decision to resume classes Tuesday, Talitha Conner had decided otherwise.
"I was at work just bawling in tears. The scariest thing you could ever imagine," said Talitha Conner, the parent of a student at the academy. "I don't even want her to come back to school, you know what I'm saying? Like, you just don't know what to do at this point. You're safe nowhere."
In addition to extra security officers staffed at the school on Tuesday, the school said crisis counselors were also on campus to provide support and assistance to students, staff, and families.
Licensed Professional Counselor, Tori Dixon with Graceful Journey Counseling said it could be in the best interest of the family to seek counseling services as a unit.
"It's also going to be necessary for the family to come together and discuss the new family dynamic that they're going to have to now face, following this incident," Dixon said.
"Now their parents are going to want to kind of pull the strings … because they're feeling this overwhelming need to protect the child from any sort of danger, and rightfully so … When we come together as a family unit, we can now discuss the incident as it occurred and discuss how it impacts both the individual students and the family at large."
PIONEER TECH AND ARTS ACADEMY
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