Local school safety concerns rise again after Pennsylvania stabbings

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The recent violence in Murrysville, Pennsylvania is once again raising some questions about local student safety.

New Hanover County deputy superintendent Rick Holliday says, “It makes us go back and reexamine what we’re doing.”

Holliday says having a close knit relationship with law enforcement is key, and local officials agree.

Brunswick County captain Sammy Turner says, “Our most valuable asset is our children.”

New Hanover Sheriff Ed McMahon agrees saying, “One of our most important jobs is to keep our children safe.”

Student resource officers can be seen in the hallways of every Brunswick county school.

Turner says their mere presence is a deterrent to outside attackers. “Someone that pulls up into the parking lot of a school and they see a marked uniform patrol car, they know there is a law enforcement officer on scene.”

New Hanover county school district has SRO’s in all middle and high schools and 11 officers for the county’s 25 elementary schools. Mcmahon says they have just the right amount, “I wanna just have what we need,” McMahon says, “Right now we have, I believe, what we need to keep our children safe.”