On Sept. 30, 2021, the Newton Municipal School District made national headlines after a student was shot after a student brought a gun to school. This is the story of the year for 2021 according to the editorial staff of the Newton County Appeal.
School board attorney Brian Mayo said that a student brought a gun to school in a mesh backpack, which he said abided by the school district’s clear or mesh backpack policy at that time. Toward the end of the school day, the gun was discharged and hit first grader Tylin Parker in the leg. He was airlifted from the school grounds while all of the schools were placed on lockdown.
Once Parker was airlifted and the school premises were secured, students were dismissed from each school. It took nearly 30 minutes to release all of the school’s students.
Parker came home three days later from the hospital and was recovering. According to reports from family members on Facebook, Tylin Parker’s family was given a police escort back to his home after he had been released from the hospital..
By November, he was able to walk using a walker during the March For Tylin in downtown Newton.
This was the second incident in which a gun was brought on the campus of Newton Elementary School. On April 30, the school district released a statement confirming that a student reported that a gun was brought on campus on April 19.
School officials did not comment on why parents were not notified immediately of the incident. The policy was also reviewed during May 2021, but mesh backpacks were not banned on school property until October 2021 after the shooting incident.
Newton Police Chief later said that the parents of the student who was involved with the September shooting would not face criminal charges.
In addition to the changes in policies, the district also was considering using metal detectors on school property. Also, former Newton Police Chief Harvey Curry was hired to head up the Newton Municipal School District’s school security.
