By Ray King
Nearly one month after the shooting at Watson Chapel Junior High School that resulted in the death of 15-year-old Daylon Burnett and charges of first-degree murder against Thomas Quarles, also 15, said Friday that the shooting occurred on the first-day students had been back in class in two weeks, one week because of a snowstorm, the second because of water pressure issues.
Guess told Deltaplex News that administrators and others in the district were unaware of any problems between Burnett and Quarles.
Like the other schools in Pine Bluff, the Watson Chapel District did not have school resource officers because of manpower shortages within the Pine Bluff Police Department but Guess Jefferson County Sheriff’s Sgt. Thaddeus Arnold works at the school full time and the district also has another security officer who carries a weapon.
He was asked how students and faculty members are coping with the incident.
Guess said counselors in the district received training in trauma counseling last week and said when the incident occurred, school staff did their job.
Guess was also asked what security improvements has the district made or is planning to make?
