HASTINGS, MN — The
Independent School District 200 has put out bids for 33 impact-resistant interior windows to replace the standard glass currently in use at
Hastings Middle School, according to
KARE-TV.
The durability of the glass became an issue after an eighth grader, who was armed with a .22 caliber revolver, broke the glass on locked doors to gain access into classrooms where students and staff cowered behind desks fearing the worst, the story stated.
According to the story, five interior windows were broken during the incident, including three that completely broke away and two with wire reinforcements that kept the armed intruder from gaining access to the classrooms.
Replacing every standard glass window in every school would cost, as Wade Setter, deputy director of
Homeland Security and Emergency Management at the
Minnesota Department of Public Safety, says "an exorbitant amount of money," the issue should be addressed to ensure the safety of students, faculty and staff should a similar incident arise in the future, the story noted.
The gun-toting eighth grader, who took the handgun from a locked gun cabinet at the home of his foster parents, was charged in juvenile court yesterday with five felonies; the
Dakota County Attorney''s Office petitioned the court to try the boy as an adult or under the extended juvenile jurisdiction statute, the story added.
According to the article, the boy was not savvy with weapons and, luckily for all involved, tried firing bullets that were too long for the handgun.
