An Alabama teenager has been charged with manslaughter and possessing a firearm illegally after a 17-year-old student was killed in a high school shooting on Wednesday.
Michael Jerome Barber, 17, was being held by police on Friday for the death of Courtlin Arrington.
Authorities initially investigated the shooting at Huffman High School in Birmingham, Alabama, as accidental before they reviewed the security footage and filed charges.
The school district confirmed metal detectors are at the Alabama high school but were not used that day.
They haven’t commented on why they were not used.
Michael Jerome Barber, 17, was charged with manslaughter Friday for the death of Arrington
Courtlin Arrington, 17, who friends have identified as an aspiring nurse, was killed during what police initally said was an ‘accidental’ shooting at Huffman High School
Barger allegedly brought his firearm to the high school in Birmingham, Alabama, and shot it after class was dismissed
Birmingham City Schools Superintendent Lisa Herring said the school system was reviewing security measures and protocols that were in place Wednesday during the shooting.
‘We have not only heightened our procedures, but we are revamping and revisiting, with an extreme amount of urgency, those protocols, not just for Huffman High School, but for every single school in Birmingham,’ Herring said at a news conference Thursday.
The superintendent said Huffman had more than 43 entry points with a combination of wand and stationary metal detectors in place, but they were not in use Wednesday.
She didn’t give details about why.
Herring said Arrington, a senior who had aspirations to be a nurse, was a bright student ‘lost to senseless gun violence’.
‘She was friendly, energetic and well-liked by peers and teachers alike,’ Herring said.
The shooting took place as class was dismissing for the day, killing Arrington and injuring another student.
Police said Wednesday that it was possible the shooting was accidental but filed charges against Barber after reviewing the footage.
Police took a ‘person of interest’ in the shooting into custody Thursday but did not identify the person because no formal charges have been filed.
Barber’s bail is set at $75,300 and it is unclear if he has obtained a lawyer yet.
Arrington died on the way to the hospital. She was 30 days away from turning 18 and had plans to attend college
A small bouquet of flowers and two balloons were placed on a fence at Huffman High School Thursday, March 8, 2018 after the fatal shooting
Huffman High School was closed Thursday and security was being increased at all city schools.
Just last week, as police and school officials investigated a reported threat at Huffman Middle School, a gun was found outside an entrance door.
It was believed to have been left there as students prepared to be scanned and have their backpacks checked.
Governor Kay Ivey said she’s: ‘praying for the family of this young lady who has tragically lost her life way too early. … It reaffirms that there is no place for students to have firearms or other weapons on campus’.
The shooting happened the day after Ivey created a school safety council to make recommendations on security in Alabama’s schools, including updated threat plans and training for students and staff on emergency situations.
A state senator became emotional on the Alabama Senate floor Thursday as she discussed the shooting, which happened in the district she represents.
‘I can’t imagine a parent sending their child to school and that child never coming home,’ state Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison said.
‘I can’t imagine what those children have gone through, not just in Huffman High School but all over this state.’
Alabama lawmakers have proposed multiple measures in response to last month’s killings of 17 people at a Florida high school.
Republicans would arm either teachers or volunteer security forces in schools. Democrats would limit or ban the sale of assault weapons.
All these proposals face a tight deadline before the end of Alabama’s legislative session this election year.