EDINBURG, Texas – After two Harwell Middle School students were wounded by stray bullets from a nearby ranch last December, Dr. Rene Gutierrez, superintendent of the Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District, said he made a startling discovery.
"There are no laws that prohibit the use of firearms adjacent to a school," Gutierrez said.
The superintendent, whose district encompasses most of Hidalgo County in the Rio Grande Valley, said he is pushing for a new law that would prohibit certain types of weapons within range of schools statewide.
Gutierrez said he expects the gun lobby may oppose the idea.
"It's going to be difficult because Texas is a hunting state," Gutierrez said.
Still, the superintendent said he has made it his mission.
If the proposal is defeated, Gutierrez said opponents will be to blame if a similar tragedy occurs elsewhere.
"Thousands of students throughout Texas are at risk," he said. "We have many schools that are out in the country."
Gutierrez said Harwell's neighboring landowners have been "very cooperative" since the incident, agreeing not to allow shooting on their properties.
He said in order to keep up with growth beyond Edinburg, ECISD has built schools further out into rural areas, but never considered there would be shooting nearby, until now.
"We were in disbelief," Gutierrez said.
Yet he said amid the panic, the staff at Harwell Middle School responded quickly. The superintendent said they have since been recognized for their life-saving actions that day.
Also in response to the shooting and the outrage from neighbors, many of them among Hidalgo County's poorest residents, the superintendent said a seven-foot-high berm is being built around the back of Harwell Middle School.
For now, 36-year-old Dustin Wesley Cook, the alleged shooter faces one count of aggravated assault in the wounding of 13-year-old Edson Amaro, whose father said now faces multiple surgeries after several major organs were damaged.
An account has been established to accept monetary donations to help with expenses for the two injured students. Contributions may be deposited at any First National Banking Center throughout Texas. The account name is: Edinburg CISD for the Benefit of Harwell Injured Students, account number 13047965.