Could Olathe East have handled school shooting better? District officials investigate
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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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As officials continue to investigate last month’s shooting at Olathe East High School that left three injured, they say they are reviewing whether the incident might have been better handled.
They are looking at what led up to the shooting, how it was handled and how procedures were followed, Brent Kiger, the district’s director of safety services, told the Olathe school board Thursday night. He said administrators are meeting with law enforcement to review protocols, as well as interviewing all personnel who responded to the shooting.
“But we also understand that there might have been a few things we could do different,” Kiger said. “And that’s what we’re doing now, sitting down with these groups of folks to figure out what can we learn in the unfortunate event of something happening similar, how can we do it better.”
Jaylon Elmore, an 18-year-old senior and football player at Olathe East, is accused of exchanging gunfire with School Resource Officer Erik Clark in an administrative office. Assistant Principal Kaleb Stoppel was also hurt.
Clark and Stoppel were released from the hospital the same day, while Elmore remained there in critical condition. He faces an attempted capital murder charge for allegedly shooting Clark. Last week, a hearing in Elmore’s case was postponed until April 28 because he was still hospitalized.
The district invited the community to a town hall at 6:30 p.m. April 19 at Olathe East to learn more about safety procedures across all district schools.
On Thursday, Jim McMullen, an assistant superintendent, said the shooting at Olathe East was the “first time we’ve dealt with something of that magnitude in this district.”
Superintendent Brent Yeager said it was “one of the most challenging days in our history as a school district. … It was an unthinkable event. But I know myself along with many others cannot be more proud of how the community pitched in to support our school on that day.”
When students returned to Olathe East the week after the incident, McMullen said, 50 counselors were embedded in classrooms for students and teachers. Students also were met with therapy dogs, additional staff and a heavier police presence.
Kiger said the district has partnered with Johnson County Mental Health to provide more services at the school. A mental health clinic will remain open this summer.
District administrators have yet to provide specifics on the investigation or suggest any changes to protocols. The incident has sparked calls for tighter gun laws in Kansas, and many parents have also called on the school district to consider tighter security measures and stronger student interventions.
Shortly after 10:30 a.m. on March 4, teachers throughout Olathe East received an alert telling them to keep students inside classrooms as shots were fired in the administrative office. The school remained locked down for a few hours while families gathered outside waiting to be reunited with their students.
Police say, according to an affidavit released last month, that a student told a counselor she overheard two boys on the bus talking about how a student named “Jay” regularly brings a gun to school. The student said “she heard he pulled the gun” on someone, and another student on the bus “said the same thing had happened to him.”
Stoppel and another administrator pulled Elmore out of class and brought him to the office. Stoppel advised Elmore they would search his backpack, but Elmore resisted, according to the affidavit.
Stoppel texted Clark to come to the office. When the officer arrived, Elmore allegedly pulled a green camo handgun out of his bag and fired about five shots. Clark, who told investigators that he feared for his life, shot back at Elmore, and the student fell.
Stoppel told police he tried to grab the gun from Elmore and ended up on top of him on the floor until Elmore started vomiting. He got off of the student and then noticed Clark had been shot. Stoppel didn’t realize that he was also shot.
Students are prohibited from having weapons on campus. The district’s policy on weapons states that, “To respond to an individual with a weapon, a building principal or designee shall call for local law enforcement support,” and that the district crisis management plan may be activated when appropriate.
Another district policy states that principals are authorized to search students if there is “reasonable suspicion” that rules are being violated. If students are suspected of carrying something that jeopardizes safety, they should be removed to a “safe location.”
The policy explains that the student should be told why a search is being conducted, and principals can request that students empty pockets and book bags. The principal “shall attempt to call the student’s parent(s) and may call law enforcement.”
“Items which the principal believes may be connected with illegal activity shall remain in the custody of the principal unless the items are turned over to law enforcement officials. If the student refuses to cooperate, the principal may take disciplinary action and/or seek assistance from law enforcement,” the policy states.
Yeager previously said the school’s “preparedness and our crisis planning went well” and helped prevent the situation from becoming worse. He said that administration would investigate and review its policies to determine whether changes are needed.
“While the district acknowledges that the policies and procedures in place helped prevent a difficult situation from being far worse, we also recognize that this is an important opportunity to review areas for improvement to ensure we are providing safe learning environments in the Olathe Public Schools,” spokeswoman Becky Grubaugh said in an email to The Star.
Police said Elmore’s gun was loaded with 13 rounds, and there was a spent round jamming the gun, blocking the slide from closing. The gun was later identified by prosecutors as a 9mm “ghost gun,” an unregistered firearm that is often assembled from a kit or purchased in parts.
It remains unclear how Elmore obtained a gun, although the affidavit said that police identified who it belonged to. The name was redacted.
After the shooting, police found Elmore’s cellphone. On it was a text, from a female whose name was redacted in the affidavit, that read: “I TOLD YOU NOT TO EVEN HAVE THAT GUN ON YOU.”
The Olathe East incident followed a school year shrouded by a rise in threats against Kansas City area schools. The Star has counted more than 20 school threats this school year, including some other incidents where weapons were found in schools.
