OLATHE, Kan. — It's been nearly two weeks since the Olathe East high school shooting and more details on the incident were released on Wednesday.
Assistant Principal Kaleb Stoppel and School Resource Officer Erik Clark’s accounts and their actions were described through the affidavit.
John Douglass, the former Director of Emergency Services at Shawnee Mission School District, called the Olathe East administrator's actions "normal and admirable."
“The paramount thing was to keep the kids safe and that was done,” Douglass said.
Douglass says the protocol and standards during the Olathe East shooting were followed.
“I think everybody acted just the way you’d hope they act,” he said.
According to court documents Stoppel "asked Jaylon Elmore if he had a gun. He also told Elmore they were going to search his backpack”
Douglass says the state gives them that right over a child and their well-being, and is different than searching someone on the street.
Court documents say “Elmore became defensive, switching his bag from his back to his front."
They also allege, "Elmore refused the search, SRO Clark came into the room went to intervene and search the backpack, when Elmore reached in, pulled out a pistol and began firing."
We know he was later stopped.
“That person reached down deep to make that affirmative action, who knows what would have happened otherwise,” Dougalss said.
Generally, he calls searching a tricky situation and school resource officers have to take into account the totality of the circumstance.
In this case, he said a school full of kids is a paramount reason.
“If a search had not taken place of a person who may have brought a gun to school, and that person was released without that weapon being verified or not verified, all of the kids would be at risk,” Douglass said.
