Some parents at Pioneer Technology and Arts Academy are expressing outrage at disciplinary action handed down to a handful of students over how they reacted upon learning their classmate showed up to school armed with a gun.
Mesquite police rushed to the public charter school on February 19 after an assistant principal called 911 reporting an armed student was holed in an office.
Body camera video shows officers trying to talk down the teen before opening fire after he appeared to raise his arms while holding a firearm.
The teen suffered a minor injury and was taken into custody.
NBC 5 has learned that at least three students have been suspended for not allegedly reporting their classmate brought a gun to school, according to the parents of two affected students.
Marta Fonseca asked NBC 5 to hear directly from her 15-year-old daughter about what happened that morning and why she reacted the way she did.
Gabriela Rodriguez, a PTAA 9th grader, says she showed up to class about 20 minutes late when she noticed the boy move to sit next to her.
“He decides to just open his backpack and start flashing the gun at me,” she said. “He said he was going to do it one day so today was that day. He was going to do it and how he’s only going to be going after the English teacher. That everybody should just leave the classroom after.”
Rodriguez says she initially thought the gun was fake.
“I sat there shocked because I didn’t think it was a real gun,” she said. “I sat there for like five minutes just thinking this isn’t real, this isn’t real. This isn’t happening.”
Rodriguez says the bell rang a few minutes later so she left and headed to her next class without alerting any adults.
“Yes, I could’ve tried but at this point, it’s just my mind thinking: ‘Would this kid turn on me’ and I get hurt instead of anyone else,” she said.
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