Hoover High School to Lock Gates Against Gang Violence

In response to a recent spurt of gang violence, school officials said this week that they will lock the Hoover High School campus gates during school hours.

Principal Don Duncan informed some 150 parents of the new security measures Monday night at a back-to-school open house. Many of the parents said they were worried about their children’s safety because of two gang-related incidents in the past two weeks.

Three gang members were arrested on campus Sept. 27 after beating up a student who belonged to a rival gang.

Earlier that day, two members of rival gangs were seen exchanging verbal taunts and gang signs on the campus, Vice Principal Kevin Welsh said. One of the two students invited four fellow gang members, who were not students, to the school, where they caught and severely beat a student who belonged to the other gang, Welsh said.

The injured student requested a transfer and is no longer attending Hoover. The other student will face an expulsion hearing next week and was arrested on criminal charges of assault and battery, Welsh said.

The week before, Welsh said, dozens of police officers surrounded the campus and a police helicopter was called to the scene after school officials received an anonymous tip that a drive-by shooting would take place near the school. The shooting never materialized, but the police presence--highly visible at the request of school officials, he said--raised concerns among parents about campus security.

“In light of recent incidents, we will be locking the various gates on campus,” except for allowing students with passes to leave at lunchtime, Welsh said.

The security plan, which follows directives implemented by the school district after the Stockton schoolyard massacre last year, will be implemented in two to four weeks, Welsh said. The campus gates will be closed at 8:10 a.m., then opened at lunchtime between 1 and 2:45 p.m. for students carrying lunch passes, then closed again until the end of the school day.