A school safety town hall meeting was held on Feb. 8 after events occurred at two Cobb County high schools involving firearms.
Cobb County School Board Member Leroy Tre’ Hutchins moderated the event that included Cobb County Commissioner Monique Sheffield, state Rep. David Wilkerson, Powder Springs council members and public safety figures.
This meeting was scheduled after two firearm incidents occurred at McEachern and Pebblebrook High School, both in the Cobb County School District.
Parents concerned about the safety of their children filled the room to capacity during this meeting.
An outraged parent shared that police detained her son after leaving the school due to matching the suspect’s description.
“That day, my son, he was able to leave school, drive and get pulled over,” she started. “I probably called my son’s phone 20 times and did not get one answer. When I got an answer, it was a police officer.”
The parent continued saying that her son wasn’t wearing anything that matched the description of the suspect.
On Feb. 1, a fight occurred between multiple students in the McEachern parking lot resulting in gunshots being fired and two individuals sustaining injuries.
Scott Foor Jr., 17, was arrested in connection with the shooting as well as an unidentified 16-year-old according to a WSB-TV article.
Two Pebblebrook students, Malik Ta’Veon Watkins, 18, and Heaven Marrow, 17, were arrested for bringing firearms onto campus on Jan. 31, just a day before the McEachern incident as reported by the Marietta Daily Journal.
A previous incident involving firearms at McEachern happened on Dec. 14, 2023, where a photo of two students posing with a firearm circulated throughout the school, resulting in a lockdown.
Parents and community at the town hall meeting called for change, expressing their frustration with the lack of communication from the district.
Lola Aminat, a parent of a McEachern Student, shared that her son was missing even though the school said everyone was accounted for.
She made pleas over apps like Nextdoor and Ring for people to help find her son with no help from the school.
Sade Booker, a 16-year-old student at McEachern, expressed that she doesn’t feel safe at the school and feels misconstrued by Principal Regina Montgomery.
Another town hall meeting took place on Feb. 15, 2024.
