The aftershocks of 53-year-old intruder Duane Morrison’s murder-suicide Wednesday at Platte Canyon High School in Bailey, Colo., rolled across the Denver metro area as school officials checked doors, revisited their own safety procedures, and sought to reassure students and their parents, reports the Denver Post. At one elementary school, principal Jonathan Wolfer walked the grounds to evaluate building security and sent an e-mail to parents assuring them that many safety precautions, from closed-circuit cameras to lockdown training, have been put into place.
“But what happened in Bailey reminded me that it doesn’t hurt to walk around a few more times a day and make sure all the access points are secure,” Wolfer said. “Some of the best hypervigilance comes right after an attack,” said Ron Stephens, executive director of the National School Safety Center in California. “In my view, schools have made tremendous strides. But there’s not a campus in America you can protect against the committed and disruptive attitude of someone who wants to come on the grounds and commit an act of violence or harm.”