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Two weeks after Northwest High School shooting: Parents want answers from OPS on school safety

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OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — It's been two weeks since the shooting at Northwest High School.
Andrew Hunt said it was a long two hours waiting to reunite with his son after the Northwest High School shooting on Sept. 10. He said he still gets emotional thinking about that day.

"At this point, I'm still pretty upset," said Hunt. "I shouldn't have to send my kid to school and worry about this happening to them."
"Why did it happen? Why didn't we have these security measures in place?" he said.

Omaha School Board member Bri Full said she'd be willing to hear these questions in a listening session or town hall about school safety. It's something Hunt said he'll support.

"I think the voice of people needs to be more direct, and I think they need to listen in more," said Hunt.

But in a social media post, Full wrote that Board President Spencer Head doesn't want any town halls or listening sessions about school safety because it's an election year and quote "I don't want these to turn into campaign gimmicks for members or others."

KMTV reached out to Head, who said there's no truth to Full's post and that she's comparing two separate discussions the board is having.

"I had said, specifically, probably eight months ago that I don't want to do those during an election year," said Head. "Both federal and state ethics guides for Congress and the legislature actually prohibit them from using state resources, taxpayer resources to promote themselves for a period of time before elections."

Head said it's not his decision, but rather up to the board to approve listening sessions or town halls on school safety.

KMTV also checked in with OPS to see what the status of its post-shooting investigation is. OPS said that the investigation is ongoing and will continue to work with law enforcement to determine the best practices going forward.

For parents like Hunt, he hopes answers can come sooner rather than later.

"It still sits in the back of your mind that this happened and that it can happen again and anywhere."

Head told me that the time frame for the safety review is to be determined, but can take anywhere between two and four weeks.

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