Local activist brings back petition for metal detectors in schools after deadly shooting

GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - Traci Fant first brought attention to adding metal detectors in schools in 2016 and then again in 2018.

Today, Fant reposted her petition for metal detectors to her Facebook page after 12-year-old Jamari Jackson was killed in a shooting at Tanglewood Middle School.

At a Greenville County Board meeting in 2016, officials listened to the parents but did not believe metal detectors were the answer to keeping students safe.

This was the board’s response:

“The greatest deterrent to guns on campus is the willingness of students to report any knowledge or rumors about weapons or any dangerous activity to a school official or law enforcement officer.”

In 2018, the idea was brought up again for metal detectors. This time Greenville County Schools responded to the idea.

“If we believed that there was a true value of student’s safety, we would come up with the money.”

The school district also said experts told them that metal detectors provide a false sense of security, they scare kids, and they are not foolproof.

Now, for a third time, Fant is pleading with the school district to add metal detectors after a deadly shooting this afternoon.

As of 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 31 the petition has 3,129 signatures out of 5,000.

Copyright 2022 WHNS. All rights reserved.