After a gun was accidentally fired inside a Dallas ISD elementary school cafeteria Thursday morning, parents tell NBC 5 they have questions about how long it took the district to notify them of the incident.
According to the Dallas ISD, a student brought a gun into the cafeteria at John Carpenter Elementary School in Oak Cliff shortly after the doors opened at 7:15 a.m. A few minutes later the gun went off.
School officials said no one was injured and that the gunfire took place when there were only a few people in the building.
The district said because the situation was isolated and because it took place before school started at 8 a.m., the PreK-5th grade campus was never locked down and that classes started at a normal time.
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Dallas ISD officials have not released any further details about the student, including their age or grade, and they haven't said what was taking place when the gun went off. District officials, including the Dallas ISD Chief of Police, declined requests from NBC 5 for on-camera interviews about the incident.
The gunfire is being investigated by the Dallas ISD Police Department and the investigation is ongoing. Police do have the ability to hold parents criminally responsible if the investigation warrants and the student could be moved to an alternative campus. So far, the district has not said what disciplinary actions have been taken.
While the district said no one was injured in the gunfire, Dallas Fire-Rescue confirmed to NBC 5 they were assigned to a 911 call for a medical emergency at the school at 8:07 a.m. and that the patient was not taken to the hospital. DFR said they were not able to release any information about the patient or why they were called. It's not immediately clear if the call was related to the gunfire.
Parents told NBC 5 they saw a DFR ambulance at the school during morning drop-off and they were concerned the school didn't notify them more quickly about what happened.
"When I went in after I saw the ambulance, I asked if everything was OK [and] do I need to pick up my daughter? And they were like, 'No, everything is fine. You don't need to pick her up. It's just a normal school day.' But there were literally police everywhere," said parent Tameyah Bradley. "Parents who were bringing their kids in should have been notified right then. I wouldn't have even let her come in the school had I known what was going on. They just let me drop her off ... they said nothing and I just sent her on her way."
Parents said there should have been faster communication, even if it was an isolated incident.
"I dropped her off right before school started. They had just closed the cafeteria door over there. I got a call at 8:50, so it's like, how long did you wait?" said Shai Gordon.
A Dallas ISD spokesperson said grades third through fifth will undergo extra screenings for the next couple of weeks. All students will also be given clear backpacks on Monday but the students won't be required to use them.
Dallas ISD has a gun safety program called Be SMART. It provides resources for families to teach gun safety at home. To learn more about the program, click here.
Carpenter Elementary is located in Oak Cliff, at Tosca Lane and Rugged Drive, across the street from Bishop Dunne Catholic School.
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