James Austin Hancock, 14, is accused of using a .380 handgun he allegedly stole from a relative to fire several shots in the crowded cafeteria, injuring classmates Cameron Smith, 15, and Cooper Caffery, 14. Two other students, Brant Murray and Katherine Doucette, both 14, were injured, though it’s unclear if they were hurt while running from the incident, said Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones.
All four students are expected to recover from their injuries, and at least one has returned to school, Philpot said.
Hancock has pleaded not guilty to six counts, including two counts of attempted murder. He’s being held in Butler County Juvenile Justice Center until his April 5 pretrial hearing.
Philpot described the forum, which was closed to the media, as an open dialogue between administrators and parents. Philpot, whose son is a senior at Madison and whose daughter graduated from Madison, talked to the parents about some of his plans to make the district safer through physical enhancements to the buildings and also encouraging students to report potential violence.
“Very business like,” is how he described the atmosphere at the meeting that lasted 50 minutes. “Serious. It wasn’t a lovefest where everybody was patting us on the back.”
He didn’t want to disclose some of those safety plans in detail because he’s meeting at 6 p.m. today with parents of elementary students in the district. He wants to give those parents an opportunity to express their concerns. Since the two buildings are attached, when the shooting occurred, all 1,600 students and staff in the district were impacted, he said.
He has encouraged the students to respect and love each other and also keep their eyes and ears open to potential trouble.
“This was a good start,” he told the Journal-News in an exclusive interview after the meeting. “We want everyone, our students and staff, to feel safe and secure.”
Students have been permitted to seek counseling, Philpot said. He said fewer students than expected took advantage of the program on the first day back to school. He said the staff also was encouraged to seek counseling, if necessary.
Since the shooting, Philpot have addressed all the students in the junior and senior high school, and he plans to meet with elementary students soon. He knows the elementary students’ concerns will be unique, based on their age, compared with the older students. During the lockdown, kindergartners were placed in small bathrooms that’s attached to their classrooms. The bathroom doors were latched, and the 25 students in each class were told to be quiet.
Philpot understands the shooting could have been much more tragic. Students could have been killed. He said the events that day, and the response from the Madison community, and the surrounding communities, changed the district.
“It’s good to be a Mohawk,” he said.
Despite the school violence, and the negative news it brought Madison, Philpot said: “We’re still a school of choice, of desire.”
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