CLEVELAND — A student may have been the target of shots fired outside of Collinwood High School in Cleveland Wednesday morning, the district confirmed.
The student made it safely into the school, which was placed on lockdown while Cleveland Metropolitan School District Safety and Security officials and Cleveland Police officers responded, the district said.
CMSD is working with city officials and police to investigate the incident and will provide updates when more is learned.
News 5 photographers were on scene at Collinwood High School at about 10:20 a.m. Wednesday as multiple Cleveland Police units were around the school campus.
The gunfire had many parents rushing to the school to pick up their kids early.
"I was terrified. My daughter told me they were on the floor in the classroom. Well, at first she thought it was an active shooter, but I guess it was in the area," said Renata Sumlin.
It also had activists like Myesha Watkins at the school. Watkins is the executive director of Peacemakers Alliance, which works to combat violence in youth. She also reiterates the importance of kids not being scared when they go to school.
"The goal is to create environments where young people can not just survive but also thrive and have alternatives to violence," Watkins continued. "Our children are being asked to come to school because education is a priority, but not at the risk of losing their life."
Adding the solutions starts with the community so moms like Renata aren't worried about their kids at school.
"I think we start in a community center, the communities that continue to be impacted the young people who are continuing to grieve the loss of peers and family members due to gun violence and figure out how to get them to rally around creating a safety strategy for their communities in our schools," said Watkins.
CMSD schools released the following statement regarding safety of students and said it is working with the city to put a stop to the violence.
"The shooting incident outside Collinwood High School this morning is still under investigation, and CMSD will continue to provide updates as we learn more. In the meantime, we are grateful for the swift response of our safety team and city police to secure our school and to launch an active and aggressive investigation of what appeared to have been a targeted attack on one of our students.
Together, CMSD and city officials are examining the measures we can collectively take to address the challenges that our schools and community face with a spike in violent acts. Prior to this morning’s incident, the City’s leadership had already scheduled a collaborative group of prevention and safety partners regarding safe routes to school as part of the Mayor’s Violence Prevention efforts.
CMSD is grateful for the City’s leadership in convening these valued partners and stakeholders, and district officials are working collaboratively toward solutions we can implement in schools and neighborhoods to ensure the safety of our students and our community.
The lockdown at Collinwood High School was lifted, but police remained on site today, including units from the Cleveland Division of Police and two CMSD mobile deputy officers. In addition, CMSD has several central office staff members on site to support students and educators."
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