A school resource officer in Olathe, Kansas, is being hailed as a hero after acting quickly after a school shooting incident on Friday.
According to the Olathe Police Department, Olathe East High School resource officer Erik Clark was injured while exchanging gunfire with the suspect, an 18-year-old male student.
Clark was summoned to the school’s main office at 10:38 a.m. on March 4 to deal with an administrative concern regarding the pupil. According to police, the student produced a weapon during the incident, and the resource officer and the suspect traded rounds. Clark, Kaleb Stoppel, the assistant principal, and the suspect, Jaylon Elmore, all received gunshot wounds.
According to authorities, all injured people were sent to a local hospital for treatment. According to police, the school was evacuated and cleared.
Elmore was apprehended and charged with attempted murder in the first degree. He was a senior on the football team and a member of the varsity squad. Elmore finished his six-month probation for aggravated robbery in December 2020.
According to the Kansas City Star, officials at Overland Park Regional Medical Center confirmed in a written statement Friday afternoon that Clark and Stoppel had been discharged from the hospital. The student remained in critical condition at the hospital.
Clark called in the incident on Friday morning, according to scanner information examined by the Kansas City Star.
Following Clark’s call, police departments from all around Johnson County rushed to the school. Clark, a 15-year member of the Olathe Police Department and a seven-year school resource officer, has been commended by many for his swift response to the incident.
