In 2017, West Liberty-Salem High School in Salem, Ohio, joined the list of schools that have experienced a shooting. The only visible scars are bullet holes in a bathroom wall, but the psychological trauma still lingers.
“Later on, they got the good news that nobody died, but their brain had already experienced that traumatic experience,” said principal Greg Johnson.
In that bathroom, Johnson and fellow principal Andy McGill rushed to help a student who had been shot twice, with the shooter just feet away. McGill was able to talk the shooter, another student, into putting the gun down.
Following the shooting, the pair led the drive to implement new security measures, including bulletproof glass, better window exits and a school resource officer — but they chose not to arm any staff or teachers.
Across the U.S., 15 states allow school personnel to carry guns on campus , according to nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety. Over the last year, the number of school districts in Ohio that allow staff to be armed quadrupled, with 14% of the state’s districts now participating, according to the Ohio School Safety Center.