Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith confirmed on Wednesday that the Apalachee High School shooter was stopped by an armed School Resource Officer (SRO), who confronted the attacker and forced him to surrender.

The incident occurred at the Georgia high school, where the shooter, armed and dangerous, was brought under control thanks to the quick actions of the officer on duty.

During a joint press conference with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), Sheriff Smith explained that the shooter was given an ultimatum—either surrender or face an officer-involved shooting.

Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith speaks to media outside Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia on Sept. 4, 2024. The school was the scene of a deadly shooting.

“Obviously the shooter was armed, and our School Resource Officer engaged him, and the shooter quickly realized that if he did not give up, that it would end with an officer involved shooting,” – Sheriff Smith

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The shooter complied, surrendered, and was taken into custody without further violence.

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This incident brings attention to the ongoing debate over police presence in schools, especially considering past statements made by Kamala Harris. During her first presidential campaign in 2019, Harris advocated for the removal of police officers from schools, citing concerns over racial disparities in school discipline.

At the time, Harris spoke out against what she described as the “militarization” of schools and pushed for a reassessment of how discipline was handled, particularly for black and brown students who faced higher rates of suspension and expulsion. In a resurfaced clip from 2019, Harris said, “What we need to do about demilitarizing our schools and taking police officers out of schools. We need to deal with the reality and speak the truth about the inequities around school discipline.”

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Harris made these comments during the Presidential Justice Forum at Benedict College in South Carolina, as part of her broader criminal justice reform platform.

Harris’s stance faced backlash from conservatives, particularly after incidents of school violence like the one in Barrow County.

Critics argued that removing police officers from schools would compromise student safety. Donald Trump Jr. questioned Harris’s position, asking, “Why does she want our kids to be less safe?” Clay Travis, a prominent radio talk show host, added, “Insanity. I want every school to have an officer, and I’m glad my kids’ schools have them.”

The call for school resource officers (SROs) has been a focal point for many, especially following tragic school shootings. Parkland parent Andrew Pollack, whose daughter was killed in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, emphasized the need for more school security, stating, “We need more school resource officers—not fewer!”

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Harris’s 2019 remarks were part of her overall criminal justice reform efforts, which aimed to reduce juvenile incarceration and eliminate solitary confinement for minors. However, her proposal to remove police from schools became particularly controversial, especially in light of rising crime rates and incidents of school violence.

During the 2020 election season, many Democrat-led cities echoed the call to “defund the police” amid protests following the death of George Floyd.

The defunding of police departments in several major U.S. cities led to a surge in violent crime, with murder rates increasing by 16 percent across large urban areas in 2021. Cities like Los Angeles and New York, which had cut police funding and implemented softer crime policies like bail reform, saw significant increases in crime.

The backlash against defunding the police, combined with concerns over school safety, led some school districts to reverse decisions to remove police officers.

While many leaders initially responded to the push to cut police funding, rising violence has since forced districts to reconsider the presence of SROs in schools.

The recent events in Barrow County, where a School Resource Officer successfully stopped a potential tragedy, have reignited debates over the role of law enforcement in schools.

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As concerns over school violence persist, the issue of police presence in educational institutions remains a critical topic of discussion.

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