An elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, saw a shooting last week that resulted in the deaths of 19 students and two instructors. As a direct response to this tragedy, a veteran of the Texas Army has volunteered to defend his daughter’s school.
Ed Chelby reported having problems sleeping on the night of the awful incident on Tuesday. It was one in the morning when he sent a letter to the superintendent of the Killeen Independent School District seeking permission to stand guard outside of Saegert Elementary School, which is the school where both his daughter and his wife work as school nurses.
Chelby, who had prior experience working in the security industry, was instructed that he could do so, and he now does so without carrying a weapon.
This week, a thankful mother shared a photograph of her kid standing guard online. The picture quickly gained widespread attention.
Chelby has said that he is unable to move on from this. He said that all he did was stand there unarmed to let them know he was watching. The parents have every right to breathe a sense of relief at this point.
Chelby was taken aback when the superintendent told him he could keep watch at the main entrance. As a result, he was seen doing security checks outside the school on the last two days of the school year, over four hours of travel time from Uvalde.
According to Chelby, who spent eleven years in the Army and is a security expert, he was contacted by many people who were extremely upset. Chelby has knowledge in the field of security.
According to what he said, his neighbours did not want to enrol their children in school. They had a hard time affording to put their children through school.
He acknowledged that this is a problem that they are all dealing with. You are having trouble deciding whether or not to enrol your child in school. You want them to finish their education and enjoy the remainder of their time in school, but at the same time, you want to do all in your power to keep them safe.
A picture of Chelby standing in front of the school has already gone viral on social media. Eli Lopez, the school administrator, stated that parents and students greatly appreciated his efforts to re-establish a sense of safety in the school community. Chelby was wearing a hoodie and a baseball cap.
Samantha Longfeather-Locke, a parent who contributed the photo of him that was posted online, said that it was reassuring to see him standing in front of the school.
Other parents have volunteered to bring him a drink. One mother reportedly approached him in tears to express her gratitude for helping her and her kid feel comfortable at school. Other parents have also offered to bring him a drink.
After a terrible tragedy at the school, Lopez observed that Mr Chelby helped maintain a feeling of security for the next two school days.
Lopez also said that another mother, an experienced mother, has volunteered to keep an eye on the rear of the school and that more parents have volunteered for the safety program that would be implemented during the next school year.
The conversation proceeded with Lopez saying, “I followed up with them and offered my personal thanks; they both stated that their sheer attendance was the least they could do.” Their display of what it means to live in a community in which people look out for one another caused me to feel ashamed and grateful at the same time.
Their actions come after the Director of Public Safety for the state of Texas, Colonel Steven McGraw, admitted that 19 police officers stood outside the classroom at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, where the shooter was holding his victims captive but did nothing because they assumed everyone inside was dead, despite repeated calls to 911 from inside the classroom from children pleading for assistance. The shooter killed 10 people and took hostages before committing suicide.
According to McCraw, who characterized this as “the incorrect choice,” the head of the Uvalde School District Police Department, Pete Arredondo, had the mistaken assumption that all of the students in the classroom had already passed away.
The police had a hunch that the shooter was trying to put them at bay by aiming his subsequent shots toward the building entrance.
