After authorities viewed incriminating security footage, an Alabama teenager has been charged with manslaughter and possessing a firearm illegally following the death of a 17-year-old student in a high school shooting on Wednesday.
Michael Jerome Barber, 17, was charged Friday for the death of Courtlin Arrington, WBRC reports. His bail has been set at $75,300 and it is unclear if he has obtained a lawyer.
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Authorities initially investigated the shooting at Huffman High School in Birmingham as accidental before they reviewed the security footage and filed charges.
Jefferson County District Attorney Michael Anderson said in a press statement on Friday that Barber was being charged for bringing “a pistol onto the campus of Huffman High School and recklessly causing the death of Miss Arrington.”
Birmingham City School Superintendent Lisa Herring said the school system was reviewing security measures and protocols that were in place Wednesday during the shooting.
The school district confirmed the metal detectors at the Alabama high school were not used the day of the shooting. The district has not commented on why they were not used.
“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 did not give details as to why.
Students told WBRC that the metal detectors are usually only used for basketball games and other events.
“I don’t understand why they’re not [used all the time],” senior Anthony Durr told WBRC. “I feel like with all the school shootings going on..the teachers and principals should be taking an initiative..like hey we want our students to be safer regardless if its happening next door or across the street.”
Herring said three school resource officers were on campus when the shooting happened, but could not say where they were, reports AL.com. She said students can report threats and concerns to 1-877-250-2830.
“Our goal to become a national model for school safety. It is what we have to do,” she said. “We have more than 23,000 students at Birmingham City Schools. When one of them are harmed, all are impacted.”
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 leaving another student injured.
Wednesday, police said it was possible the shooting was accidental but filed charges against Barber after reviewing the footage.
According to CBS News, Herring said all Birmingham schools will use metal detectors every day from now on. She also said students plan on paying tribute to Arrington during the March 14 “National School Walkout Day.” Students across the country began planning the walkout after the Feb. 14 shooting in Parkland, Florida where 17 people were killed at a high school, to support new gun control measures.
Herring said the Birmingham walkout will last 18 minutes – one minute for each Parkland victim and another for Arrington.
“We have lost one of our brightest and best scholars,” Herring said of Arrington, a senior who was already accepted to Concordia College. “We are not removed from the fact that Courtlin Arrington, our student, our aspiring nurse, is no longer with us.”
Classes at Huffman resumed Friday with increased security measures after being closed Thursday.
