‘We are a family’: Community rallies in aftermath of Olathe East High School shooting
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Olathe East High School shooting
A shooting at a Johnson County high school injured a school resource officer and an administrator, according to police. The suspect, a student, is in custody.
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Residents and leaders across Johnson County offered messages of unity and uplifting one another on Friday in the wake of the Olathe East High School shooting that injured three.
“In the Olathe Public Schools, along with our community, we are a family,” Superintendent Brent Yeager said in a video message Friday. “And now more than ever, we need to rally around one another and support each other during this difficult time.”
Mayor John Bacon said the community “demonstrates time and again our love and support for one another.”
“Thank you to our friends and neighbors near and far who continue to offer their prayers of support and healing,” the mayor said in a statement, adding a “heartfelt thank you” to the city’s police, school resource officers and school leaders “for the courage they displayed today.”
The shooting unfolded around 10:38 a.m. as School Resource Officer Erik Clark was responding to the main office to assist with an administrative matter, said Sgt. Joel Yeldell, a spokesman for the Olathe Police Department. He said an 18-year-old student displayed a handgun that led to an exchange of gunfire between the student and Clark.
Clark and the student were both wounded. Kaleb Stoppel, the high school’s athletic director and assistant principal, was also shot. Clark and Stoppel were discharged from Overland Park Regional Medical Center on Friday afternoon as the shooting suspect remained in critical condition.
The shooting prompted a frenzied response from parents Friday morning as they responded to area schools to meet up with their children through reunification plans. A large share of students were shuttled to Pioneer Trail and California Trail middle schools by bus to be picked up after several hours of lockdown.
In Overland Park, OP Church: A Church of Christ opened its doors Friday evening to Olathe youth, school staff and families to act as a “refuge” for those affected.
Ministers led with Christian scripture readings and an acoustic-guitar backed hymn for a group of 35 members who gathered there. Prayers were offered for those wounded, including the shooting suspect, and all the families involved.
Among those joining was Kiley Carpenter, an Olathe East sophomore, who locked the door of her classroom when her class was told they were going to stay in place. She was reunited with her grandmother hours later and encouraged to come to the vigil.
“She was like, ‘You need to be around your friends,” Carpenter said.
Charlie Matthews, a 17-year-old junior at Olathe East, said he learned about the shooting by watching the news alongside classmates while under lockdown. Being with the prayer group allowed him a chance to hear people talk about caring for one another, he said.
“It’s just a nice way to hear people like care about others, even the shooter and the shooter’s family. It’s just a great way to hear people who are thinking about other people during a time when this just happened.”
This story was originally published March 4, 2022 at 11:21 PM.
