LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It's been two years since Krista Gwynn's daughter stepped foot in a Jefferson County Public School (JCPS) classroom. She's been homeschooled since a lockdown scared her.
"That last lock down, my daughter came home and said I'm scared to go to school," Gwynn said. "As a mother, what are you supposed to do? I'm her parent. I'm her safety net. I'm her guard. I pulled her out of JCPS. I felt as though JCPS could no longer do anything for me, as far as protecting my child."
Since then, JCPS has installed a weapons detection system named Evolv to catch weapons before they went into the buildings.
According to an open records request WHAS11 filed, the new weapons detection system has caught 10 different weapons this school year.
Most of the weapons detected have been knives that were 2.5 inches or longer. Other weapons include two stun guns and a handgun confiscated at PRP High School in February.
However, a gun found in a student's backpack at Male High School on Sept. 11 was not included in the original record. With this included, the total is 11 weapons confiscated last school year and this school year thus far.
"One weapon is too much," Gwynn said. "But 11, honestly, I think it's low, but that's still too many."
Will Pitts is an anti-gun violence activist, and his cousin was critically injured in a shooting at PRP High School near its football game on Sunday.
"These kids are taking it upon themselves to play God and eliminate each other off the Earth and it's unacceptable," he said.
Pitts said the weapon detection systems in JCPS schools are a step in the right direction.
"What you see is actually true," he said. "People are actually dying, people are actually getting shot. So, you have to put these types of things into place."
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